The duo were appointed by the selection panel chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi...
Digital Desk: The newly appointed Election Commissioners, Gyanesh Kumar, and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu took charge of the Commission on Friday, ahead of the announcement of the Lok Sabha Election date.
The two recently appointed Election Commissioners were welcomed on board by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar. The duo were appointed by the selection panel chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.
An official statement issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice said, “In exercise of powers conferred by Section 4 of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service, and Term of Office) Act, 2023 (Act No. 49 of 2023), the President is pleased to appoint Gyanesh Kumar, IAS (Retd.) and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, IAS (Retd.), as Election Commissioners in the Election Commission of India, with effect from the date they assume charge of their office.”
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the Opposition member in the three-member selection committee on Thursday stated that bureaucrats Sukhbir Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar have been appointed as election commissioners.
This came days after Election Commissioner Arun Goel resigned from his post on March 9 which was accepted by the President.
Goel's resignation came with the Election Commission's reduction from three members to two following Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey's retirement in February.
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led screening committee, which also included the Leader of the Opposition and Law Minister Arjun Meghwal, convened earlier to review candidates for the vacant election commissioner posts.
Chowdhury claimed that the process used to choose the Election Commissioners "has some lacunae" after the selection committee meeting.
In February, Gyanesh Kumar resigned from his position as secretary of the Ministry of Cooperation, and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu was the former chief secretary of the Uttarakhand government.
On January 31, 2024, Sandhu, an IAS official from the 1988 batch, retired from his position as Chief Secretary.
At first, there was just one CEC on the Election Commission. It currently consists of the CEC and 2 election commissioners.
First appointed on October 16, 1989, two more commissioners had a relatively brief term ending January 1, 1990. Two more election commissioners were added afterwards, on October 1, 1993.
Since then, decisions have been taken by a majority vote in an EC consisting of multiple members.
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