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In a stark acknowledgement of foreign powers trying to influence Lok Sabha elections in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an interview with Times Now said that the world is trying to do "more than just giving opinions" and asserted that such endeavours would ultimately remain "unsuccessful".
"I think this opposition will be only till June 4, after that these people will neither have the power nor exist. Only the power of my nation and our radiant democracy will exist. World will watch India's democracy with a new point of view. I can see that there is an attempt that the world is trying to influence our elections. They are not just giving their opinions but trying to influence our elections but they will not be successful," he said. "People of India will not get influenced. After Emergency, people of India, including the poor, have showed the beauty of India's democracy. Such people will not be successful. The lamp flickers before it extinguishes. This is the flickering, as they know they will soon be left in the dark," he added. Earlier, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar slammed Western media, emphasising that they criticise our democracy because they think they are also political players in our election and not because they lack information. Addressing a forum for nationalist thinkers in Hyderabad, EAM said, "I get a lot of these noises from the Western press and if they criticize our democracy, it's not because they lack information. It is because they think they are also political players in our election." Further, Jaishankar said that in an article by the Western media, they stated that in such a heatwave in India, why are they holding elections? "Now I read that article and I wanted to say listen, in that heat my lowest turnout is higher than your highest turnout in the best run," Jaishankar said. He added that these are games that are being played with us. "These are politics. These are our domestic politics which is going global, global politics which feels they must now intrude in India. How can these chaps decide who should be ruling them without consulting us?" he said. The Lok Sabha Elections 2024 is underway across the country in seven phases. Voting for the first phase took place on April 19, while that for the second phase happened on April 26. Now, the third phase of polling will take place on May 7. The results for all the seven phases will be declared on June 4. The third phase of the Lok Sabha elections will be held on May 7 with voting to be held in 94 parliamentary constituencies across 12 States and Union Territories. By Tuesday evening, over 280 constituencies will have gone to polls, meaning that more than half of the total seats in Lok Sabha will have been decided. Therefore, the remaining of 543 constituencies will go to polling over the rest of the four phases. The state of Gujarat and the Union Territories of Goa, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu will complete polling in a single phase on Tuesday. Among the other constituencies voting in the third phase are four in Assam, five in Bihar, seven in Chhattisgarh, eight in Madhya Pradesh, 11 in Maharashtra, 10 in Uttar Pradesh and four in West Bengal. (ANI)
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