The Chief Election Commissioner Dr Nasim Zaidi will be in the city on Saturday to inaugurate the annual national conference on electoral and political reforms at Panjab University.
The 13th edition of the annual talk, organized by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW), will be held for two days on April 29 and 30 discussing various aspects of electoral and political reforms.
Dr Zaidi, who will be the chief guest on April 29, will also give the key note address. Besides, the representatives of the National Election Watch from each state chapter, members of political parties, government institutions and academicians will be present to deliberate on issues related to electoral and political reform in the country.
During the event, the reports on Mid-Term National Voter Survey, 2017, and combined analysis of five state assembly elections, 2017, will be released.
Maharashtra State Election Commissioner JS Saharia will give a presentation on the voter awareness initiatives of Maharashtra State Election Commission during Municipal Corporation, Zila Panchayat and Panchayat Samiti elections in Maharashtra in 2017/
A discussion on ‘Increasing Opacity in Political Financing’ will be held wherein former Union Minister and Supreme Court Advocate Manish Tewari, Aam Aadmi Party MlA in Punjab Sukhpal Singh Khaira, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) director Prof Sanjay Kumar will be the panelists.
The issue of State or public funding of political parties will also be discussed in another session with JNU’s former Sukhamoy Chakravarty Chair Professor Prof Arun Kumar, PRS legislative Research president Dr MR Madhavan, Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication’s Dr Eshwar Anand will participate.
Discussion will also be held in topics, ‘Innovative ideas towards greater voter awareness at the grass-root level’, ‘Criminalization of Politics’, ‘Impact of Media on Elections and Governance’, and ‘Resolutions and Next Steps for NEW’.