5 months ago
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Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar connected Wednesday (December 3, 2025) assumed complaint arsenic Chairman of the Council of Member States of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) for 2026.
In his acceptance code astatine Stockholm, Sweden, Mr. Kumar highlighted the standard of India’s antiauthoritarian exercise, noting that the state has implicit 900 cardinal electors crossed 28 States and 8 Union Territories.
In the 2024 General Election, India witnessed a breathtaking antiauthoritarian spectacle successful which implicit 20,000 candidates from 743 governmental parties, including six nationalist and 67 State parties, participated. Over 20 cardinal predetermination personnel, including implicit a cardinal Booth-Level Officers and 5 cardinal polling unit were engaged successful the exercise, helium said.
Stating that, since Independence successful 1947, the state has witnessed 18 General Elections to Parliament, and implicit 400 elections to State Legislatures, the CEC said that India sought to stock with each not lone the learnings of the world’s largest, and astir divers and inclusive modern democracy, but besides the antiauthoritarian values and principles profoundly enshrined successful India’s civilisational heritage.
India’s chairmanship of the International IDEA assembly would beryllium decisive, ambitious, and action-oriented, helium said. India volition endeavour to guarantee that each ballot counts, each dependable matters, and that democracies worldwide go much inclusive, peaceful, resilient, and sustainable.
The chairmanship marks a important milestone, reflecting planetary designation of the Election Commission of India (EC) arsenic 1 of the world’s astir credible and innovative predetermination absorption bodies, the EC said successful an authoritative statement.
India is simply a founding subordinate of International IDEA.
As Chair, Mr. Kumar volition steer the council’s enactment astir India’s wide taxable for the chairmanship, ‘Democracy for inclusive, peaceful, resilient and sustainable world’, and absorption connected 2 cardinal pillars, namely, reimagining ideology for the future, and autarkic and nonrecreational predetermination absorption bodies for sustainable democracy.
The Indian Ambassador to Sweden Anurag Bhushan was contiguous connected the occasion.
The CEC held a treatment with the Secretary-General of International IDEA, Kevin Casas-Zamora.
