Steering clear of commenting on the outcome of the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections in India, the US on Thursday said that the US “celebrates the election that happened in India” as it was the largest exercise of electoral franchise in any country anytime in history.
Addressing a regular press briefing on Thursday, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said, “The electoral matters are matters for the Indian people to decide. We celebrate the election that happened in India; it was the largest exercise of electoral franchise in any country anytime in history.”
“But for specific results of that election, it’s just not something we comment on,” Miller added.
His reaction came in response to a question from a Pakistani reporter who claimed, “PM Modi is trying to turn India into a Hindu state, resulting in other religions not feeling secure.”
The Election Commission (EC) had set up around 12 lakh polling stations across the country for over 96 crore voters to exercise their franchise in the seven phase elections.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, number of registered voters was about 91 crore. However, it went up by almost five crore in the last five years to cross 96 crore.
PM Modi took oath as Prime Minister of India for his third successive term on 9 June at an impressive ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan which was attended by leaders from India’s neighbourhood and Indian Ocean region.
BJP-led NDA won a majority for the third time in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, winning 293 seats. BJP won 240 seats on its own, in the 543-member lower house, where the majority mark stands at 272.
Notably, PM Modi is only the third leader after Jawaharlal Nehru to take oath as PM for a third consecutive time.
With inputs from agencies
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