CEC Gyanesh Kumar interacts with BLOs, hails them for ground efforts

Describing BLOs as the foundation and backbone of Indian democracy, Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Thursday interacted with field-level poll machinery and youth delegates during the ECI’s Regional Conference on “ELC & ECINET” held at Kalaivanar Arangam here.

The day-long conference, organised by the ECI in coordination with the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Tamil Nadu, focused on grassroots electoral preparedness and voter awareness across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

Interacting with over 500 Booth Level Officers (BLO) from 14 surrounding districts, the CEC commended their dedicated door-to-door verification and on-ground efforts.

“Booth-level officers are the foundation of any democracy. The booth-level officers of Tamil Nadu, as well as all parts of the country, are working booth to booth, house to house to ensure that the electoral rolls and voter lists are correct, cleaned up, and free of mistakes. The Election Commission of India salutes them,” the CEC said, adding that valuable suggestions shared by the officers would be reviewed by the Commission for appropriate action. The session with field functionaries concluded with a vote of thanks by the District Election Officer (DEO), Chennai.

Addressing an afternoon gathering of nearly 1,000 delegates, including first-time voters, students, and educators representing 300 schools, 75 colleges, and 25 universities across 38 districts of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, the CEC urged young citizens to champion democratic values, adopt informed voting practices, and actively drive voter literacy through institutional Electoral Literacy Clubs (ELCs).

Delegates also participated in interactive exhibitions and witnessed live demonstrations covering essential stages of the electoral cycle, including electoral roll preparation, voting procedures, and vote counting.

Earlier, speaking to reporters at the Chennai airport, Kumar congratulated both Tamil Nadu and Puducherry for achieving the highest number of votes polled as well as the highest voting percentages in the recently held Assembly elections.