New Delhi: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar asserted that a "pure" voters' list is the key to strengthening democracy as he praised the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections as an illustration of how electoral roll management and poll conduct form the core of democratic credibility.
Speaking at the inaugural session of the Election Commission of India’s International Conference on Democracy and Election Management (IICDEM), Kumar said the Bihar elections demonstrated the level of administrative precision required of election management bodies in India and elsewhere.
“The first step was purification of the electoral rolls, including eligible electors,” Kumar said as he highlighted that not one complaint was filed challenging inclusion or exclusion of electors during the roll revision exercise in Bihar last year. Kumar also noted that not even a single repoll was ordered in the two phases of the Bihar Assembly elections in any of the one lakh polling stations.
"Pure electoral roll, including each and every elector as per law, is essential to strengthen democracy and all the elections which will be held on the basis of that electoral roll," Kumar said, adding that the electoral rolls in Bihar were revised amid tight public scrutiny.
ECI likely to extend deadline for SIR in BengalThe February 14 deadline for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the poll-bound West Bengal is likely to be extended after the Supreme Court issued a slew of directions to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to make the process transparent, accessible and voter-friendly, Hindustan Times reported, citing poll officials. SIR was rolled out in West Bengal on November 4, 2025, and the draft electoral roll was published on December 16. The last date for submission of claims and objections was January 15. The ECI had extended it till January 19. The hearing process is scheduled to continue till February 7 before the final electoral roll is published on February 14. |
