IAS officer Gyanesh Kumar was appointed the new Chief Election Commissioner on Monday. Kumar, who was serving as an Election Commissioner before this announcement, previously worked with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Kumar, a 1988-batch officer from the Kerala cadre, had also served as secretary in various ministries, including Cooperation, Parliamentary Affairs and Defence.
He is the first CEC to be appointed under the new law on the appointment of the members of the Election Commission (EC). His term will run till 26 January 2029, days before the EC is expected to announce the schedule for the next Lok Sabha election.
During his tenure as the 26th CEC, Kumar will oversee the Bihar Assembly polls later this year, and the Kerala and Puducherry Assembly polls in 2026. Similarly, he will oversee the Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, which are also due in 2026.
The announcement by the Union Law Ministry came hours after a meeting to select the new CEC was held in the South Block office of the prime minister where PM Narendra Modi, Shah and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi were present.
However, the vote was not unanimous as Gandhi had voted against Kumar’s appointment. According to sources, when the LoP was shown a list of names as probable candidates for the CEC, he refused to look at it and gave his dissent note, saying the meeting was “meaningless”.
Kumar was one of five candidates suggested by the search panel out of more than 485 people. He was posted as Joint Secretary, Kashmir Division, in the Amit Shah-led Home Ministry when Article 370 was abrogated in August 2019.
Source : https://www.news18.com/india/gyanesh-kumar-picked-as-new-chief-election-commissioner-9231013.html
