Amid EVM row, PM all praise for EC

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, January 27

In his first monthly “Mann Ki Baat” address of the year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday eulogised the Election Commission for fructifying voting right of every eligible voter and for striving to strengthen the democracy.

The PM urged the youth, eligible to vote for the first time in the coming General Election, to exercise their voting rights out of a sense of responsibility, and thereby be partners in nation-building.

“The scale at which elections are held in India is a matter of awe for the world. It is natural for every citizen to feel proud of the Election Commission owing to its meticulous organising abilities,” he said.

Describing the commission as county’s vital institution and an integral part of the country’s democracy, he referred to polling stations set up at 15,000 feet above the sea level in Himachal, in remote islands of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago and in distant Gir forest in Gujarat, “for that lone voter”.

“These facts are bound to instil a sense of pride, of the commitment of the Election Commission,” Modi said, hailing the commission for ensuring free and fair polling.

Modi’s laudatory references to the commission come on the back of recently organised controversial “hackathon” in London in which the claim of the vulnerability of EVMs in India was made. This prompted Opposition parties to raise questions on the “integrity” of the polling process. In an outreach to the youth, he urged them to exercise their voting rights in the coming Lok Sabha election. He pitched for the eligible youth to get themselves registered with the Election Commission.

He emphasised on the importance of sports as an edifying element in character building and lauded sportspersons for taking part in large numbers in the Khelo India Youth Game, which was held recently in Maharashtra. 

Besides, he mentioned expansion of country’s space programme and the recent launch of a mini satellite—“KALAM SAT”—fashioned by students. He prefaced his address with tributes to Shivakumara Swami, Lingayat head of Siddaganga Mutt in Karnataka who passed away recently.  Modi also heaped praises on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Rabindra Nath Tagore and the mystic poet-saint of “bhakti” movement Guru Ravidas, whose birth anniversary is on February 19.

PM gifts up for grabs 

• Souvenirs gifted to Modi are up for grabs at a two-day auction (began Sunday) here at National Modern Art Gallery 
• Received funds will go to govt’s Namami Gange project 
• Website pmmementos.gov.in has been created to display and e-auction the mementos
• Two most expensive gifts are a Rs 35,000 photo frame gifted at Srimanta Sankaradeva Sangha conference in Assam and a 2.22-kg silver plate (priced Rs 30,000), gifted by BJP ex-MP C Narasimhan 
• Among cheapest are a small Lord Vishnu silver idol for Rs 1,000 and a Rs 2,000 blue brocade shawl with tassels 
• Only gold-plated gift is a 4.76-kg Radha-Krishna idol (with Rs 20,000 initial price), gifted by Mandvi Nagar Palika, Surat