New Delhi, August 25 (HS): The Election Commission of India (ECI) has stepped up its engagement with political stakeholders, holding an unprecedented 4,719 structured meetings with national and state-level parties over the past six months in a bid to enhance dialogue and strengthen the electoral process.

The initiative—envisioned by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar along with Election Commissioners Dr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Dr. Vivek Joshi at the March 2025 Conference of Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs)—marks a departure from earlier practice where interactions were largely reactive to party representations.

According to the Commission, the meetings included 40 conducted by CEOs, 800 by District Election Officers (DEOs), and 3,879 by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), engaging over 28,000 party representatives nationwide.

High-level interactions with political parties

As part of the outreach, ECI also convened meetings in May 2025 with the heads or authorised representatives of five out of six recognised National Parties, including BSP, BJP, CPI(M), NPP and AAP. The Indian National Congress, however, deferred the meeting and did not reschedule despite repeated communications.

The Commission further met leaders from 17 recognised State Parties between July and August 2025, including the Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, DMK, AIADMK, Shiv Sena, YSRCP, BJD, and others, with meetings for the remaining parties still in progress.

Building a culture of proactive dialogue

“These proactive meetings are a new initiative of the Commission and represent a significant shift towards structured dialogue. The platform enables parties to directly voice their concerns and suggestions before the Commission, strengthening trust and transparency in the electoral process,” the ECI said in a statement.

The exercise, officials noted, aligns with the Commission’s vision of further reinforcing democratic processes under the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ framework, involving all stakeholders within the limits of constitutional and legal provisions.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar