Gyanesh Kumar's UP outreach events postponed, ECI cites routine scheduling changes

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has postponed two youth-focused Electoral Literacy Club (ELC) regional conferences in Uttar Pradesh that Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar was scheduled to address.

The first programme was planned in Meerut on Friday, where Kumar was to interact with young voters. A similar Gen-Z engagement programme was scheduled in Varanasi on September 28. The ECI said the decision to postpone both events was taken on September 21.

An ECI official said the postponement was not connected to the controversy surrounding the poll panel.

“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.

ECI points to earlier postponements

The Commission said such changes were not unusual and pointed to earlier instances when ELC conferences in Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh and Uttarakhand had been postponed or rescheduled.

Electoral Literacy Clubs are designed to familiarise school and college students, particularly young and first-time voters, with the electoral process. The sessions cover areas such as voter registration, polling, counting and the role of the Election Commission.

The current ELC 2.0 programme is being rolled out through regional conferences across states, with the Uttar Pradesh events forming part of the Commission's voter-awareness outreach ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections.

Postponement comes amid ECI controversy

The decision comes at a time when the functioning of the poll panel has come under scrutiny following reports of differences among the three Election Commissioners over several decisions, including those linked to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

According to reports, Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi recorded objections on multiple occasions over the past 10 months. The ECI has maintained that its decisions were taken unanimously.

The postponement of Kumar's Uttar Pradesh programmes was reported after the controversy became public, but the Commission has stressed that the decision itself was taken on September 21. The Indian Express also reported that the events had been postponed indefinitely.

The Meerut programme was to combine the ELC 2.0 regional conference with an interaction involving young voters, while the Varanasi event was planned as another Gen-Z outreach session. No fresh dates have been announced so far.