- Thursday, May 02, 2024
The first phase of the polling took place on April 19 in 102 constituencies of the country in which fates of 1,625 candidates were to be decided by more than 166 million voters.
By: Shubham Ghosh
GOOGLE DOODLE on Friday (19) commemorated the beginning of the 18th general elections in India, the world’s largest democracy, by depicting the left index finger marked with ink.
Anyone who casts his/her ballot in an Indian election gets a mark of the indelible ink on his/her left index finger that not only confirms participation in the festival of democracy but also to prevent instances of electoral fraud or double voting.
Google Doodles are temporary and brief changes made to the Google logo to pay tribute to various themes — local and global — including holidays, birth anniversaries of prominent people, beginning of any significant event, and the like. They are presented in various forms — images, animations, slideshows, and videos, among others.
Read: Voting in India, world’s biggest democracy, begins; every voice matters, says PM
The doodle came on the day the first of the seven phases of the election took place. One hundred and two of Indian Lok Sabha’s (Lower House of the parliament) 543 constituencies in 21 states and Union Territories were going to polls in the first phase.
The states included Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Manipur, Assam, Bihar and West Bengal.
The UTs included Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Jammu and Kashmir.
Read: India election poll of opinion polls: Modi likely to win but…
More than 1,600 candidates were in the fray in the first election and over 166 million voters were casting their ballots.
State elections in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh were also held on the same day.
In the first phase, 3.57 million individuals were voting for the first time while 35.1 million young voters aged between 20 and 29 were eligible to participate.
The 2024 national elections see a contest primarily between two alliances: the National Democratic Alliance, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party of prime minister Narendra Modi which is seeking its third successive term, and the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance bloc of more than two dozen parties that are looking to prevent Modi to coming back to power again. The main opposition, Indian National Congress, is part of this alliance.
Prime minister Modi posted on X messages in six languages to urge people to go out and vote, saying every ballot and voice matters. He tweeted in English, Hindi as well as in Tamil, Bengali, Assamese and Marathi since states where these languages are spoken — Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam and Maharashtra, respectively, were voting fully or partially in the inaugural phase.
2024 च्या लोकसभा निवडणुकीला आजपासून सुरुवात! 21 राज्ये आणि केंद्रशासित प्रदेशातील 102 जागांसाठी मतदान होत असल्याने, या जागांसाठी मतदान करणाऱ्या सर्वांनी विक्रमी संख्येनं मतदान करावं असं मी आवाहन करतो. विशेषतः तरुण आणि प्रथमच मतदान करणाऱ्या मतदारांना मोठ्या संख्येनं मतदान करण्याचं…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 19, 2024
আজিৰে পৰা আৰম্ভ হৈছে ২০২৪ চনৰ লোকসভা নিৰ্বাচন! যিহেতু ২১খন ৰাজ্য আৰু কেন্দ্ৰীয় শাসিত অঞ্চলৰ ১০২খন আসনৰ বাবে ভোটগ্ৰহণ হ'ব, মই এই আসনসমূহৰ বাবে ভোটদান কৰা সকলোকে অভিলেখ সংখ্যাত ভোটাধিকাৰ সাব্যস্ত কৰিবলৈ আহ্বান জনাইছো। বিশেষকৈ যুৱক-যুৱতী আৰু প্ৰথমবাৰৰ ভোটদাতাসকলক বৃহৎ সংখ্যাত…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 19, 2024
2024 লোকসভা নির্বাচন শুরু হল আজ ! 21 টি রাজ্য ও কেন্দ্রশাসিত অঞ্চলের 102টি আসনে যে নির্বাচন হচ্ছে আজ, তার ভোটারদের প্রতি আমার আবেদন রেকর্ড সংখ্যক ভোটদানের । বিশেষ করে তরুণ ও প্রথমবারের ভোটদাতাদের আমি বিপুল সংখ্যায় ভোটদানের আহ্বান জানাই। সর্বোপরি, প্রত্যেকটি ভোটের গুরুত্ব আছে…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 19, 2024
2024 மக்களவைத் தேர்தல் இன்று தொடங்குகிறது! 21 மாநிலங்கள் மற்றும் யூனியன் பிரதேசங்களில் உள்ள 102 இடங்களுக்கு வாக்குப்பதிவு நடைபெறவுள்ள நிலையில், இந்தத் தொகுதிகளில் வாக்களிக்கும் அனைவரும் சாதனை அளவை எட்டும் வகையில் தங்களது வாக்குரிமையை பயன்படுத்துமாறு கேட்டுக்கொள்கிறேன்.…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 19, 2024
लोकतंत्र का सबसे बड़ा उत्सव आज से शुरू हो रहा है! लोकसभा चुनाव के पहले चरण के मतदान में 21 राज्यों और संघ शासित प्रदेशों की 102 सीटों के लिए वोट डाले जाएंगे। इन सभी सीटों के मतदाताओं से मेरा आग्रह है कि वे अपने मताधिकार का प्रयोग जरूर करें और वोटिंग का नया रिकॉर्ड बनाएं। पहली बार…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 19, 2024
The 2024 Lok Sabha elections commence today! As 102 seats across 21 States and UTs go to the polls, I urge all those voting in these seats to exercise their franchise in record numbers. I particularly call upon the young and first time voters to vote in large numbers. After all,…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 19, 2024
