Election Commissioner: Today, on Friday, the newly appointed Election Commissioners, Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, will assume their positions. On Thursday, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led selection panel named them poll commissioners.
Vacancies in the Election Commission
The unexpected resignation of Arun Goel a few days before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey in February left the Election Commission with two vacancies. In February 2025, Gyanesh Kumar will take Rajiv Kumar’s position as the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC).
Election Calendar Release and Commissioner Induction
One of these days, the Election Commission is supposed to release the calendar for the Lok Sabha elections in April and May. In order to assist the poll body in conducting these surveys, the new commissioners will join their offices. A day before the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear petitions contesting the selection procedure, the two appointments are made.
As per the existing system, a search committee headed by the Union Law Minister creates a shortlist. The final nominees are then chosen by a selection panel chaired by the Prime Minister and consisting of the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and a Union Minister.
The Chief Justice of India had to be a member of the PM-led panel, the highest court decided in March of last year. However, thereafter, a bill was introduced by the Union government to replace the Chief Justice with a Union Minister.
Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu’s Professional Background
Gyanesh Kumar is an IAS officer from the Kerala cadre, having joined in 1988. Kumar, sixty, had previously collaborated with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. On January 31, 2024, he retired from his position as secretary in the Ministry of Cooperation, which is led by Amit Shah. Prior to that, he worked for the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs as the secretary.
Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, an IAS officer from the Uttarakhand cadre, is also from the 1998 batch. After Pushkar Singh Dhami was appointed chief minister of Uttarakhand in 2021, Sandhu took over as chief secretary.
