Former President Pranab Mukherjee has said that any attempt to denigrate election commission will be an act of undermining the democracy itself. He said, Indian democracy has been tested time and again adding consensus is the life blood of democracy. He was giving the first Sukumar Sen Memorial Lecture in New Delhi on Thursday. Sukumar Sen was the first Chief Election Commissioner of India, who commendably conducted the first two general elections to the Lok Sabha.

The Former President also emphasised the importance of people in the electoral process and said it is the key to the healthy democracy. He lauded the role of Election Commission in the practical play in the democracy and said the challenges it has had to face have been daunting. Mr Mukherjee said the management of an electorate of over 900 million in 2019 that is nearly the combined population of third, fourth and fifth largest nations in the world, and ensuring fair polling is not an easy job.