The Election Commission of India (ECI) has postponed two Electoral Literacy Club (ELC) regional conferences in Uttar Pradesh that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was scheduled to address, officials said on Friday.
The first event was scheduled in Meerut on September 25, where Kumar was to interact with young voters. A similar Gen-Z engagement programme was planned in Varanasi on September 28.
An ECI official said the postponement was not connected to the ongoing controversy involving the poll panel. According to the official, the decision to postpone the two conferences was taken on September 21 and communicated to officials on the same day.
ECI cites scheduling factors
The official said changes in event dates are part of the regular process and can be necessitated by factors including venue availability, schedules of senior officials and natural conditions.
Officials also pointed to previous instances when ELC conferences were postponed or rescheduled in states and Union Territories including Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh and Uttarakhand.
The postponement comes amid heightened attention on the functioning of the three-member Election Commission following reports of objections raised by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.
Two ECs reportedly raised objections
An investigation by The Indian Express reported that Sandhu and Joshi had formally raised objections at least 14 times over 10 months over decisions and orders concerning electoral-roll management. The reported objections included voter additions, deletions and restoration, changes to Form 6 and aspects of the electoral-roll database.
The report said the two commissioners had questioned certain decisions and communications that they said were issued without their knowledge or approval. They also raised concerns about what they described as the gradual centralisation of the electoral-roll database and its impact on the role of statutory authorities at the state and constituency levels.
The ECI, however, has maintained that decisions taken by the Commission were unanimous, and has described differences and observations during internal deliberations as part of the functioning of a multi-member constitutional body.
What are Electoral Literacy Clubs?
Electoral Literacy Clubs are an ECI initiative in schools and colleges aimed at familiarising students and first-time voters with the electoral process.
The programme covers aspects such as voter registration, polling and counting, as well as the constitutional role of the Election Commission.
The current ELC 2.0 initiative is being rolled out through regional conferences and forms part of the Commission’s broader voter-awareness outreach ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election.
The postponement of the two Uttar Pradesh conferences does not, according to the ECI official cited by HT, indicate any connection with the ongoing controversy surrounding the Commission.
