CEC says pure voters' list key to strengthen democracy

Against the backdrop of opposition parties questioning the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Wednesday asserted that a "pure" voters' list is the key to strengthening democracy. Addressing the inaugural session of an international conference of election management bodies in New Delhi, 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 Bihar Assembly elections in any of the one lakh polling stations.
He said that the booth-level officers are the foundational pillar for the electoral democracy in the country.  Kumar said, ‘India is the mother of democracy and maintaining pure electoral rolls with the inclusion of every eligible elector is essential for strengthening democracy.The Chief Election Commissioner said that the work of Election Management Bodies has evolved significantly over the past decades. Kumar said that India conducts elections on an unprecedented scale, encompassing 28 states and 8 union territories. He said that the conference brings together representatives of more than forty Election Management Bodies, as well as scholars, experts and students from over seventy national institutions.  
The three-day conference is poised to be the largest global conference of its kind hosted by India in the field of democracy and election management. Nearly one hundred international delegates representing over 70 countries from across the world are participating in the conference. During the conference, the Commission will hold over 40 bilateral meetings with various Election Management Bodies (EMBs) to deepen dialogue and cooperation on shared electoral challenges faced globally.