Akshay Rout

Journalist, TOI

The writer is former director general, Election Commission of India

The writer is former director general, Election Commission of India

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Stories by the author

• Balle balle & bullied ballot? Record number of voters is cause for cheer, but concerns over why many of them voted linger

  
  01 May 2026 12:12 AM IST
• Women voters now India’s most decisive political force, reservation only a matter of time

  
  19 Apr 2026 11:24 PM IST
• SIR rewrites the rules of roll revision

  
  28 Mar 2026 11:30 PM IST
• Joining the dots: Swachh Bharat Mission out of the narrow lane

  
  18 Feb 2026 12:45 AM IST
• Indore’s water contamination deaths demand accountability — without undoing India’s sanitation gains

  
  24 Jan 2026 11:00 PM IST
• Bihar polls: How the state breaks its voting ceiling

  
  15 Nov 2025 11:10 PM IST
• We love third world Bharat: Delhi-NCR’s citizens choose the kind of air they want to breathe, and lifestyle they want to live

  
  22 Oct 2025 10:54 PM IST
• Bihar Election 2025: EC announces poll dates as voter list controversy brews after major revision

  
  06 Oct 2025 11:33 PM IST
• Bihar Assembly Elections: After SIR uproar, time to move on with trust in poll process

  
  06 Sep 2025 11:28 PM IST
• After Tuesday’s Supreme Court endorsement, political parties should harness SIR’s potential

  
  29 Jul 2025 10:59 PM IST
• Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls has legal backing, but without trust, it risks derailing democracy

  
  05 Jul 2025 10:52 PM IST
• Is India doing enough to combat its waste management and pollution crisis?

  
  06 Jun 2025 10:49 PM IST
• With big reforms on horizon, fixing vote for uncontested winner can wait

  
  25 May 2025 11:50 PM IST
• Beyond compliance: Why companies must look past the balance sheet for ESG

  
  20 Apr 2025 10:51 PM IST
• New faces at EC: A fresh start with a dash of reform & a pinch of controversy

  
  25 Feb 2025 11:53 PM IST
• Ensuring cleanliness at India's major pilgrimage sites: Lessons from Mahakumbh 2025

  
  17 Jan 2025 11:17 PM IST
• Despite a 10% decline in voting across the world, India reversed the trend by hitting the 65% mark

  
  30 Dec 2024 12:24 AM IST
• Prioritising quality over quantity: The true test of One Nation, One Election

  
  18 Dec 2024 11:59 PM IST
• Could US election do with an India-style Model Code of Conduct and Election Commission?

  
  05 Nov 2024 10:57 PM IST
• View: People's message loud and clear in Jammu and Kashmir

  
  03 Oct 2024 09:31 AM IST
• All eyes on Jammu & Kashmir as the valley gears up for some election firsts

  
  26 Aug 2024 10:44 PM IST
• View: J&K elections a crucial opportunity to capture and entrench the march of the ballot

  
  12 Aug 2024 12:08 AM IST
• Turnout's turning out all right

  
  5 mins read19 May 2024
• Lok Sabha election 2024 begins: Here we go again, India

  
  18 Apr 2024 11:03 PM IST
• Election Commission acts swiftly on violations ahead of Lok Sabha polls

  
  30 Mar 2024 10:19 PM IST
• Polls, put the kettle on

  
  5 mins read18 Mar 2024
• Beyond electoral bonds, 2024 Lok Sabha polls is an opportunity for voters to break new moral ground

  
  6 mins read18 Feb 2024
• 2024 Lok Sabha elections: India's roll call of democracy

  
  16 Feb 2024 11:52 PM IST
• View: Hop on the bus of democracy

  
  5 mins read26 Jan 2024
• Selecting poll officials: Contestants won't stop levelling allegations

  
  23 Dec 2023 10:55 PM IST
• Count on keeping the good

  
  6 mins read17 Nov 2023
• Assembly elections: EC targets big in state matches before 2024 Poll World Cup

  
  11 Oct 2023 11:58 PM IST
• Simultaneous polls: ONOE can be justified as a course correction only if it cements core idea of democracy

  
  5 mins read24 Sep 2023
• How Swachh Survekshan is heralding wholesome sanitation rejuvenation of India cities

  
  6 mins read9 Aug 2023
• How election managers could use state polls to fine-tune their skills ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha showdown

  
  6 mins read11 Jun 2023
• Reduce, reuse, and recycle way to clean cities and sustainable environment

  
  05 Jun 2023 12:48 AM IST
• View: The great Indian poll story need not be hate or fake one

  
  12 May 2023 11:51 PM IST
• How India’s gargantuan electoral exercise is the primary indicator of its democratic heft

  
  6 mins read31 Mar 2023
• Ensuring smooth flow of funds for water, sanitation and hygiene

  
  11 Feb 2023 10:42 PM IST
• 2023, the year of elections before the election year

  
  26 Jan 2023 11:54 PM IST
• Why the 'gift' of universal adult franchise must not be treated as ordinary and frittered away

  
  6 mins read24 Jan 2023
• The alarm bell sounded by urban indifference to elections

  
  06 Dec 2022 11:39 PM IST
• What 4,000 Indian cities & town should do to fulfil Swachh Bharat mission

  
  5 mins read13 Nov 2022
• Fair elections mean serious accountability, and some accounts

  
  22 Oct 2022 10:34 PM IST
• Electoral promises: The freebie stops here

  
  23 Aug 2022 11:01 PM IST
• View: India can't keep harping on the 'glorious pause' of Swachh Bharat Mission

  
  5 mins read13 Jul 2022
• One nation, one election: Burden of too many polls; political appetite, not hedging, is answer

  
  11 Apr 2022 12:39 AM IST
• View: Wrap it up, swachh from plastic

  
  03 Apr 2022 11:22 PM IST