"Largest Electoral Exercise Ever": Shashi Tharoor On Lok Sabha Polls 2024

Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in the country, Congress' Lok Sabha candidate from Thiruvananthapuram constituency in Kerala, Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday collaborated with India's International Movement to Unite Nations (IIMUN) and launched their campaign aimed at first-time voters.

He took to social media platform X and wrote, "India, the world's largest democracy -- as we all wish it to remain! -- goes to elections starting next month."

"This election will be the largest electoral exercise ever conducted in the world. Citizens will cast their vote across 543 constituencies in 7 phases at over 10.5 lakh polling stations to elect the 18th Lok Sabha. This exercise will employ 1.5 crore polling officials and security staff, 55 lakh EVMs, and 4 lakh vehicles," he further stated on X.

He said that a total of 96.8 crore people have registered to vote. However, the most significant fact is that out of these, 23 crore people between the age of 18-29 will be voting.

Highlighting the role youth can play in the upcoming general elctions, he said, "I believe this is an election in which young people can truly determine the nation's destiny."

He congratulated IIMUN on its #myfirstvote campaign, adding to which he expressed, "I am happy to do my bit to amplify the need to vote!"

Earlier in the day, Shashi Tharoor accused the BJP of hijacking democracy and urged other political parties to fight together to defeat it in the upcoming polls.

He argued that the BJP cannot repeat the same performance as in the 2019 general election when it won 303 seats and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by it, won 353 seats.

For the 2024 Lok Sabha election, both the BJP and the Left have put up strong candidates against Shashi Tharoor in the Thiruvananthapuram constituency, where he won three times consecutively.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)