In first remarks since Rahul Gandhi's accusation, CEC says India's electoral roll process among most transparent in the world
Speaking at an international conference in Stockholm on Tuesday, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said India's electoral roll preparation process was among the most rigorous and transparent in the world, in his first remarks since Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi's allegations last week of irregularities in the Maharashtra electoral roll.
Kumar delivered the keynote address at the election integrity conference organised in the Swedish capital by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistant (International-IDEA), attended by representatives of election management bodies of around 50 countries.
According to an Election Commission statement on Wednesday, Kumar 'underscored the statutory sharing of India's electoral roll with all recognised political parties every year during revision as well as before the elections since 1960 till today, with provision of claims, objections and appeals, as one of the world's most rigorous and transparent exercises, reinforcing the accuracy and integrity of the electoral process. He noted that this robust mechanism plays a vital role in upholding electoral credibility across the country, year after year.'
The CEC's speech comes days after Gandhi wrote an opinion piece reiterating his earlier allegations of 'bogus' voters being added to the electoral rolls ahead of the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections and alleging 'match-fixing'.
In his speech in Stockholm, the CEC said that conducting elections with the 'utmost integrity is a testament to our national resolve', as per the EC statement. He added that the elections are conducted under the close watch of political parties, candidates, the EC's general, police and expenditure observers and the media–all who act as concurrent auditors.
The exercise of conducting Parliamentary elections involves close coordination, with over 20 million personnel, the CEC said. He added that the Indian electorate had grown from 173 million electors in the first general elections in 1951-1952 to 979 million in 2024. The number of political parties who participated in the 2024 elections stood at 743, including six recognised national parties and 67 state parties.
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