Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, Gyanesh Kumar are new Election Commissioners
The selection of the two Election Commissioners was done with a dissenting note of the Leader of Opposition (LoP) Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. Read More
New Delhi: Retired IAS officers Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar have been picked as Election Commissioners to fill the two vacancies in the Election Commission of India.
The selection of the two Election Commissioners was done with a dissenting note of the Leader of Opposition (LoP) Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
The 3-membr Election Commission of India is headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC).
The Poll Panel was left only with Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar after the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey last month and Arun Goel's resignation last week.
Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar both are retired IAS officers of the 1988 batch. While Sandhu is from the Uttarakhand cadre, Kumar is from the Kerala cadre.
During his long career, Sandhu served on various key government posts, including Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand and Chairman of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
Gyanesh Kumar on the other hand has served as Secretary in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and the Ministry of Cooperation.
LoP Dissents
Leader of Opposition (LoP) Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury meanwhile said the selection of the Election Commissioners was unfair and a government's decision.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is one of the members of the 3-member selection panel headed by Prime Minister Modi. The third member is Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Chowdhury said he was provided a list of 212 nominees to select from only yesterday. He said as it was not possible to assess a list of 212 in less than 24 hours, he asked for a shortlist.
"I was provided a shortlist having 06 names barely 10 minutes before the meeting", he told media.
Chowdhury said he had given a dissent note, questioning the procedure of selection.
SC Petition
Interestingly, the Modi government appointed new election commissioners two days before a hearing in the Supreme Court on a petition challenging the EC Selection Process.
The Supreme Court in an order had said the panel to select Election Commissioner should have Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India and Leader of Opposition.
The government however passed an ordinance to reverse the SC ruling and replaced the CJI with a member of the Union Cabinet.
The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Congress leader Jaya Thakur have challenged the process in the Apex Court and the matter is scheduled for a hearing Friday March 15.
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