India's CEC Gyanesh Kumar Meets Indonesian Envoy, Highlights Electoral Integrity

The X post stated, "Chief Election Commissioner of India and Chairperson International IDEA, Shri Gyanesh Kumar met H.E. Ms. Ina H. Krisnamurthi, Ambassador of Indonesia to India, today at Nirvachan Sadan, New Delhi. @KBRI_NewDelhi".

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, on December 3, assumed the Chairship of the Council of Member States of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) for the year 2026. Ambassador of India to Sweden, Anurag Bhushan, was also present on the occasion.

According to the official website, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) is an intergovernmental organisation (IGO) with an explicit mandate to support sustainable democracy worldwide. International IDEA maintains a global presence through a diverse membership, which reinforces the legitimacy of its actions.

Earlier, on December 21, Gyanesh Kumar said Telangana would soon demonstrate to the entire country how a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls should be conducted, citing Bihar's recently completed exercise as the benchmark, according to a release by the Chief Electoral Office.

Addressing Booth Level Officers (BLOs), he said they formed the backbone of India's electoral system and that the success of electoral roll purification depended on their diligence and integrity. He noted that the global community closely watched India's elections to understand how the world's largest democracy functioned.

Referring to Bihar, Kumar said the massive SIR exercise had been carried out flawlessly, enabling around 75 million voters to participate in the recent Assembly elections. He said the process recorded zero complaints, zero re-polling and zero recounting, and congratulated Bihar's BLOs for setting a high national standard.

The Chief Election Commissioner said Telangana, which he described as geographically larger than Canada, would enter a new era of electoral administration once the roll purification exercise was completed.

During his interactions with BLOs, Kumar observed that urban voter apathy remained a key reason for lower voter turnout in cities. In contrast, rural voters had consistently shown the way by turning out enthusiastically and standing in long queues.

He reiterated that elections in India were conducted strictly in accordance with the law of the land and that all stakeholders were bound to comply with election laws.

Kumar also said India had recently assumed the chairship of International IDEA, nearly three decades after becoming a member in 1995, a move he said reflected global recognition of the Election Commission of India as one of the world's most credible and innovative election management bodies.

Highlighting the scale of India's democratic exercise, he said the country has more than 900 million electors spread across 28 states and eight Union Territories.

- ANI