The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday said the poll body has conducted 4,719 meetings over the past six months with representatives of national and state political parties to address concerns and suggestions raised by them.
Of the 4,719 meetings, the Commission said, 40 were conducted by chief electoral officers (CEOs), 800 by district electoral officers (DEOs) and 3,879 by electoral registration officers (EROs) since March 2025, engaging over 28,000 representatives of political parties
“These meetings provide a platform for party heads to share their suggestions and concerns directly with the Commission,” the poll body said in a press release. “These meetings are in addition to the meetings of ECI with other delegations of political parties on their request.”
In May, the heads or authorised representatives of five recognised national parties — Bahujan Samaj Party, Bharatiya Janata Party, Communist Party of India (Marxist), National People’s Party and Aam Aadmi Party— met the Commission. It also met with 17 recognised state political parties between July and August.
ECI said that the Indian National Congress was “invited to a meeting on May 15 but deferred its participation and did not respond to subsequent communications for rescheduling”. The invite came amid allegations raised by the Opposition party over vote manipulation in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and multiple assembly elections over the last year, including Maharashtra and Haryana.
{{/usCountry}}ECI said that the Indian National Congress was “invited to a meeting on May 15 but deferred its participation and did not respond to subsequent communications for rescheduling”. The invite came amid allegations raised by the Opposition party over vote manipulation in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and multiple assembly elections over the last year, including Maharashtra and Haryana.
{{/usCountry}}The poll body said that the structured interactions with political parties was first discussed at the conference of chief electoral officers, chaired by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, in March 2025. It stated that “these interactions mark a change from the earlier practice of engaging political parties only when they made representations, and are aimed at strengthening the electoral process within the existing legal framework”.
Bihar SIR: Papers of 99.11% voters submitted
Speaking of the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, ECI said that 99.11% electors submitted the required documents for verification ahead of the September 1 deadline.