UN chief Guterres hopes ‘everyone’s rights protected’ in India’s elections: Spokesperson

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hopes that in India’s elections, "everyone’s rights are protected", his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric has said.

“What we very much hope that in India, as in any country that is having elections, that everyone’s rights are protected, including political and civil rights, and everyone is able to vote in an atmosphere that is free and fair”, he said on Thursday, 28 March in response to a question from a Bangladeshi journalist at his daily briefing.

In making a general statement, Dujarric did not directly react to the journalist’s assertion that India was at a “crisis point” mentioning the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and what he said were the freezing of Congress Party funds.

The elections for the 18th Lok Sabha will begin on 19 April followed by subsequent phases on 26 April, 7 May, 13 May, 20 May, 25 May and 1 June. The counting of votes is on 4 June.

The states where polling would be held in the first phase are Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep and Puducherry.