Gyanesh Kumar as Chief Election Commissioner of India
Gyanesh Kumar assumed charge as the 26th Chief Election Commissioner of India On 19 February 2025. In his inaugural message to voters, he emphasized that the first step in nation-building is voting, and urged every citizen of India above the age of 18 to enroll as an elector and participate in elections. He further stated that, in keeping with the Constitution of India, and electoral laws,the Election Commission had always been, and would continue to remain, committed to the voters.[12][13][14]
Initiatives as Chief Election Commissioner
Since assuming office as the 26th Chief Election Commissioner of India on February 19 2025, Gyanesh Kumar introduced a series of measures aimed at strengthening India’s electoral process. Between February and September 2025, the ECI announced 30 initiatives under his leadership, covering stakeholder engagement, electoral system reforms, technological enhancements, purity of rolls, ease of voting, and capacity building.
Gyanesh Kumar held a series of bilateral meetings with the heads of Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs) on the sidelines of the International IDEA conference to strengthen global cooperation among EMBs. He met with counterparts from Mexico, Indonesia, Mongolia, South Africa, Switzerland, Moldova, Lithuania, Mauritius, Germany, Croatia, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. The discussions focused on voter participation, electoral technology, diaspora voting, and institutional capacity-building.[15]
As part of stakeholder engagement, the Commission conducted more than 4,700 all-party meetings at national, state, and local levels, while also holding direct interactions with party leadership.[16]In the area of electoral reforms, the Commission delisted inactive political parties, [17]issued standardized photo ID cards for Booth Level Officers (BLOs),[18] introduced verification of EVM microcontrollers,[19] and convened a national conference with legal counsels to strengthen its legal framework and streamlined the process of postal ballot counting to reduce delays and improve transparency.[20]
Technology adoption was a major focus, with the launch of ECINET, a one-stop digital platform consolidating over 40 applications and websites for voters, officials, and political parties. [21] Other measures included real-time voter turnout updates uploaded directly from polling stations,[22] 100% webcasting to monitor polling processes [23] and mandatory VVPAT slip counts in cases of mismatches. Efforts to ensure the purity of electoral rolls included a Special Intensive Revision in Bihar, [24] Special summary revisions in several states before bye elections, [25] Linking of death registration data for timely roll updates, [26] elimination of duplicate EPIC numbers, [27], a new system for faster delivery of voter ID cards within 15 days of enrolment or update.[28]
To enhance voter convenience, the Commission introduced mobile deposit facilities at polling stations,[29] capped the number of electors per polling station at 1,200 to reduce overcrowding, [30] improved voter information slips with clearer serial and part numbers, [31] and permitted candidate booths just beyond 100 meters of polling stations.[32] The ECI also revised guidelines to make EVM ballot papers more readable by including colour photographs of candidates and larger serial numbers, beginning with Bihar, [33] Capacity building initiatives included expanded training programmes at IIIDEM for election officials, [34] training sessions for police officers and Media officers, [35] and workshops for booth-level agents appointed by political parties. [36] Remuneration was doubled for BLOs and increased for polling and counting staff, BLO supervisors, and security personnel, with honorarium introduced for Electoral Registration Officers for the first time. Internal systems were also modernised with biometric attendance, e-office migration, and relocation of staff to IIIDEM for greater efficiency.[37]
