ECI engages JD-S delegation; highlights 4,719 all-party meetings held in 150 days

New Delhi, Aug 21 The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday met a delegation from the Janata Dal (Secular), led by its National General Secretary and Authorised Representative K.R. Shivakumar, at Nirvachan Sadan in New Delhi.

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, along with Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, received suggestions from the party as part of the Commission’s ongoing dialogue with national and state political parties.

The ECI said the meeting is part of its initiative to hold structured interactions with party leadership to strengthen the electoral process within the existing legal framework. These interactions, the Commission noted, are aimed at addressing long-standing demands for direct engagement between party presidents or senior representatives and the poll panel.

Highlighting the scale of outreach over the past five months, the Commission revealed that a total of 4,719 all-party meetings were organised across the country.

This included 40 meetings at the level of Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs), 800 by District Electoral Officers (DEOs), and 3,879 by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), collectively engaging over 28,000 political party representatives.

Since May this year, the ECI has met delegations from major national and state parties including the Bahujan Samaj Party, Bharatiya Janata Party, CPI(M), National People’s Party, Aam Aadmi Party, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, AIMIM, DMK, Shiv Sena, JD(U), Biju Janata Dal, and others.

Thursday’s engagement with the JD(S) follows a series of consultations where parties have raised concerns ranging from electoral roll transparency, use of technology in elections, campaign finance monitoring, and measures to ensure level-playing fields.

The ECI underscored that it values suggestions from all stakeholders and will continue the exercise as part of its broader vision to strengthen democratic participation ahead of upcoming electoral cycles.

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