BLOs are pillars of our democracy: CEC Gyanesh Kumar

Srinagar: Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Monday interacted with booth level officers (BLOs) in Budgam and described them as the "pillars of our democracy," highlighting their role in strengthening India's electoral process.

Kumar addressed a gathering of BLOs at the National Institute of Fashion Technology in Budgam district.

He further said India is leading the world's major democracies with a transparent electoral process in which every stage of the exercise is concurrently audited by political parties and candidates. "We discussed the components of the world's most transparent electoral process... preparation of voter list, polling and counting. These are concurrently audited by all political parties and candidates," Kumar, who is on a three-day visit to Kashmir, told reporters here.


Earlier in the day, he said India currently holds the chair of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), an intergovernmental organisation that supports sustainable democracy worldwide.