ECI Postpones CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s Two UP Outreach Events, Says No Link To Row

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has postponed two Electoral Literacy Club (ELC) regional conferences in Uttar Pradesh that were scheduled to be addressed by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, officials said on Friday.

The first event was scheduled in Meerut on Friday and was to include an interaction with young voters. A similar Gen-Z engagement programme was planned in Varanasi on September 28.

An ECI official said the postponement was unrelated to the ongoing controversy surrounding differences among election commissioners. The official said the decision to defer both conferences was taken on September 21 and communicated to officials the same day.

“Adjustments in dates of events is an ongoing process which is necessitated by various factors such as availability of venues, schedules of higher authorities, natural factors,” the official said.

The postponement comes amid a controversy following reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally raised objections at least 14 times over the past 10 months to decisions and orders of the Election Commission. The reported objections covered issues including the addition, deletion and restoration of voters, as well as changes to the voter registration process.

The ECI has maintained that decisions of the poll panel were taken unanimously.

Officials also pointed to previous instances in which ELC conferences were postponed or rescheduled in states and Union territories including Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh and Uttarakhand.

Electoral Literacy Clubs are an ECI voter-education initiative in schools and colleges aimed at familiarising young and first-time voters with the electoral process. The programme covers areas such as voter registration, polling, counting and the constitutional role of the Election Commission.

The latest phase, branded ELC 2.0, is being rolled out through regional conferences across states. The initiative is part of the ECI’s broader voter-awareness and outreach efforts ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.