• The Election Commission recently said its Suvidha portal has received over 73,379 applications since the Lok Sabha polls were announced.
• Maximum requests were received from Tamil Nadu (23,239) followed by West Bengal (11,976) and Madhya Pradesh (10,636). Minimum requests received from Chandigarh (17), Lakshadweep (18) and Manipur (20).

ABOUT PORTAL:

• The Suvidha portal is a technological solution developed by ECI to ensure a level playing-field upholding the democratic principles of free, fair and transparent elections.
• The Suvidha Portal streamlined the process of obtaining and acting upon requests for permissions and facilities from political parties and candidates during the election period.
• The Suvidha Portal caters to a diverse range of permission requests transparently on the First in First Out principle.
• It caters to permissions for organising rallies, opening temporary party offices, door-to-door canvassing, video vans, helicopters, obtaining vehicle permits, distributing pamphlets.
• It is supported by a robust IT platform, managed by nodal officers across various state departments. It also has a companion app that enables applicants to track the status of their requests in real time.