Chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Friday defended the Election Commission's functioning, saying every action of the poll body is rooted in the Constitution, electoral laws and written instructions issued from time to time, amid mounting opposition criticism over its functioning.

His remarks came days after 23 opposition parties and an Independent MP wrote to the Chief Justice of India alleging a "partisan role" by the Election Commission, questioning the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and alleging large-scale voter deletions during the recent Bengal Assembly elections.

Addressing a national conference of more than 260 Election Commission Media and Communication Officers, Kumar said the Commission's actions are carried out transparently in accordance with the constitutional and legal framework governing elections.

He also urged officials to remain vigilant against false narratives on social media and proactively engage to prevent the spread of misinformation.

Referring to the recently concluded assembly elections, Kumar said the highest-ever voter turnout recorded in those polls reflected people's faith in the electoral process.

Election Commissioner Vivek Joshi, meanwhile, cautioned officials about emerging digital threats, including artificial intelligence-generated content, deepfakes and other synthetic or manipulated content designed to erode institutional trust.

He urged officers to counter such threats using the Election Commission's official guidelines and stressed the need to strengthen youth engagement through Electoral Literacy Clubs (ELCs).