New Delhi [India], July 17 (ANI): The Election Commission of India (ECI) organised its first All India Media Conference 2026, bringing together over 380 media professionals from states and Union Territories under the theme, “Connecting stakeholders, strengthening democracy: Role of media in elections.”
Addressing the conference, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar said elections in India are conducted in accordance with the Constitution, electoral laws and the instructions of the Election Commission. He said the entire electoral process is continuously audited by the stakeholders involved.
The CEC said India’s electoral rolls, covering nearly 95 crore electors, are a living document that is dynamically updated. Referring to the statutory safeguards in the preparation of electoral rolls, he said over 12 lakh Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and more than 15 lakh Booth Level Agents (BLAs) are involved in the process as “concurrent auditors.”
Kumar also said the high voter turnout in the recent Assembly elections reflects the trust of Indian voters in the country’s electoral system and the vibrancy of democracy. He expressed gratitude to voters for participating in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.
According to the ECI, the conference aims to promote informed understanding of different aspects of the electoral process and how elections are conducted with transparency involving key stakeholders, including political parties and candidates.
Participants were also briefed on the constitutional provisions relating to elections, the Representation of the People Acts, 1950 and 1951, ECI instructions issued from time to time, the ECINET platform and the role of technology in elections.
The conference also included sessions on the roles and responsibilities of Booth Level Agents (BLAs), Polling Agents and Counting Agents in ensuring transparency and facilitating political party participation during various stages of elections.
As part of the programme, media professionals were given demonstrations of electoral roll preparation, polling and counting processes and participated in hands-on sessions to understand the statutory framework that forms the basis of the concurrent audit by various stakeholders.
The event concluded with a question-and-answer session with Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. (ANI)