The Indian diaspora voiced the necessity of extending voting rights to NRI's and persons of Indian origin holding dual citizenship. In response to this External Affairs Minister Prananb Mukerjee said that technical constraints acted as the chief hurdle. " During the elections this year , 670 million voters will cast their votes across the country. This number is equal to the number in the European Union and USA combined. Enabling another 10 million of the diaspora to vote may not be physically possible." said Mr Mukerjee.