In the meeting led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the name of Gyanesh Kumar has been approved as the next Chief Election Commissioner. The Law Ministry has also issued a notification for appointment as the next CEC. IAS officers of the 1988 batch Kerala cadre have been working as Election Commissioner since March last year. After the retirement of the current CEC Rajiv Kumar, he will take over, who are retiring on February 18.
The name is decided by a selection committee for the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner. A meeting was held on Monday evening under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Home Minister Amit Shah also reached this meeting. Significantly, the Supreme Court, after a long legal tussle, had fixed the officials for the selection committee for the appointment of CEC, in which the Chief Justice was also included.
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Dnyanesh Kumar first became CEC under the new appointment process
Prior to the implementation of the new statutory provisions for the appointment of Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners, the most senior of the remaining commissioners were usually appointed as the outgoing Chief Election Commissioner. However, Gyanesh Kumar is the first Chief Election Commissioner to get appointment under the new appointment process. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and the selection committee under the presence of Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi finalized his name and recommended it to the President.
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Rajiv Kumar’s term and retirement
Rajiv Kumar, who took over as the 25th Chief Election Commissioner on 15 May 2022, will leave the post on February 18 after taking care of several historical elections during his tenure. He was responsible for holding assembly elections in 11 states as well as the 16th President and Vice-Presidential elections in 2022.
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