'Purified electoral rolls' crucial for healthy democracy: CEC Gyanesh Kumar

Stressing the need for "purification of electoral rolls" from time to time, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday said only Indian citizens should be in the voters' list. Addressing the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) of Telangana here, he said India is the world's largest democracy. The BLOs formed the backbone of India's electoral system and the success of electoral roll purification depended on their diligence and integrity. He noted that the global community closely watched India's elections to understand how the world's largest democracy functioned. He said during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the BLOs of Bihar had shown the way to the country. Under the phase-III of SIR, Telangana would demonstrate to the entire country how the exercise should be conducted. On the SIR undertaken by the Election Commission in Bihar, he said the exercise had been carried out flawlessly. The list of deleted electors in Bihar included 22 lakh who had passed