Gyanesh Kumar of Article 370 Abrogation Fame Becomes CEC

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Gyanesh Kumar Succeeds Rajiv Kumar as India’s New CEC

By Raisina Correspondent

New Delhi, February 17: Kerala Cadre IAS officer Gyanesh Kumar will take charge as India’s next Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). Kumar will assume charge from Tuesday.

The government in a notification issued late on Monday stated that Gyanesh Kumar has been appointed India’s next CEC. Vivek Joshi, a 1988 Haryana cadre IAS officer, has also been appointed an Election Commissioner.

Gyanesh Kumar has been serving the Election Commission as a member. His predecessor Rajiv Kumar retired on Monday.

Gyanesh Kumar is the first CEC to be appointed under the “Chief Election Commissioner and the Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Office, Terms of Office), Act 2023”.

The selection panel consisting of Prime Minister, Home Minister, Law Minister, and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha met on Monday to approve the names of Gyanesh Kumar as the CEC. The panel also approved Joshi as the new Election Commissioner.

The Congress on Monday held a press conference to demand a postponement of the meeting of the selection panel. The Opposition party argued that the Supreme Court is hearing a petition challenging the Act under which the Chief Justice of India was dropped from the selection panel.

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Kumar, 61, was previously with the Ministry of Home Affairs. Reports said that he held the important task of the abrogation of Article 370 as the special provision for Jammu and Kashmir. He also oversaw the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union territories with Ladakh carved out.

Kumar was joint secretary (Kashmir division) in the Ministry of Home Affairs when Union Minister Amit Shah piloted the Jammu and Kashmir reorganisation Bill in parliament in 2019. Kumar had joined the Election Commission last year.

Earlier in the day, the officials of the Election Commission bid farewell to Rajiv Kumar. “Rajiv Kumar had joined ECI as Election Commissioner on September 1st, 2020 and assumed charge as the 25th Chief Election Commissioner of India on May 15, 2022,” said the Election Commission in a media statement.

Rajiv Kumar’s tenure spanning 4.5 years in the Commission was characterized by several controversies with the Opposition levelling allegations against the Commission. Rajiv Kumar oversaw one full electoral cycle with conduct of elections in 31 States/UTs, the Presidential and Vice-Presidential elections 2022, Lok Sabha elections 2024 and Rajya Sabha renewals, which is a rare feat in electoral management.

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