“Action-Packed Week Ahead”: Amidst poll date buzz, new election commissioners take charge today

The newly appointed Election Commissioners, Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, took over 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. On Thursday, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led selection panel named the two.

In accordance with the authority granted 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 designate Gyanesh Kumar, IAS (Retd.), and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, IAS (Retd.), as Election Commissioners in the Election Commission of India, effective from the day they take up their positions, according to a statement released on Thursday by the Ministry of Law and Justice.

Sukhbir Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar, two bureaucrats, have been named election commissioners, according to a statement made on Thursday by Congress politician Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who is the opposition member on the three-person selection committee.

This occurred a few days after Arun Goel, the Election Commissioner, quit on March 9. The president accepted his resignation.

Following the retirement of Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey in February, the Election Commission—which had originally consisted of three members—was left with only two members following Goel’s departure.

The Leader of the Opposition and Law Minister Arjun Meghwal were on the selection committee that met earlier to review candidates for the open posts of election commissioner. The meeting was presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Chowdhury said 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 previous chief secretary of the Uttarakhand government.

On January 31, 2024, Sandhu, an IAS official from the 1988 batch, resigned from his position as Chief Secretary.

There was only one CEC on the Election Commission at first. At the moment, the CEC and two election commissioners make up this group.

On October 16, 1989, two more commissioners were initially appointed; however, their terms were only very brief, ending on January 1, 1990. Two more election commissioners were appointed later, on October 1, 1993.

Since then, the idea of a multi-member EC has remained in place, with decisions decided by a majority vote.