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CEC Kumar to speak on electoral integrity at IDEA Stockholm Conference

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India Gyanesh Kumar has been invited to deliver the inaugural keynote address at the International IDEA Stockholm Conference on electoral integrity on 10 June. Kumar, who is leading a delegation of senior officials, interacted with members of the Indian diaspora in Sweden on Monday ahead of the conference. He is also scheduled to hold one-to-one bilateral meetings with the Chief Election Commissioners of nearly 20 countries, including the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, South Africa, Indonesia, Mexico, Mongolia and Switzerland. 'The massive scale of the Indian elections and the magnitude of the logistics involved in the exercise evinces keen interest amongst the Election Management Bodies (EMBs) across the world. Over 100 participants representing around 50 countries are taking part in the conference,' the Election Commission said in a statement. Kumar's keynote address comes at a time when questions have been raised in India over the neutrality of the Election Commission of India (ECI). On Saturday, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi criticised the ECI's functioning and raised concerns about electoral integrity in a column published in multiple newspapers. Gandhi called the recent Maharashtra election 'a blueprint for rigged elections' and alleged that the next instance of 'match fixing' would occur in the Bihar polls. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis responded in a separate column, accusing Gandhi of 'insulting' India's democratic processes and the people's mandate. 'The people have rejected Rahul Gandhi, and in retaliation, he is rejecting the people and their mandate,' Fadnavis wrote. Despite the public exchange, Gandhi has not formally submitted a letter to the ECI with his claims. According to established procedure, any constitutional body, including the ECI, requires an official written communication to issue a formal reply. India's ranking in the Electoral Democracy Index of the V-Dem Democracy Report 2023 has declined to 108th, from 100th in 2022. Since 2017, the report has categorised India under the 'electoral autocracy' classification. The ongoing international conference on electoral integrity and Kumar's participation are expected to draw attention to both the scale of India's electoral operations and the domestic discourse around democratic institutions.