Meet Gyanesh Kumar, the new Election Commissioner of India. He oversaw abrogation of Article 370

Retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu on Thursday (Mar 14) were named as the new Election Commissioners by a high-level committee led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The two positions in the commission were vacant after the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey on February 14 and the sudden resignation of Arun Goel on March 8. Goel would have become chief election commissioner (CEC) after incumbent Rajiv Kumar retiresin February next year.

In an official statement, 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."

Who is Gyanesh Kumar?

Gyanesh Kumar is an IIT-Kanpur graduate and didBTech in Civil Engineering. He also has a postgraduate degree in economics from Harvard University.

He retired as secretary of the Ministry of Cooperation on January 31, 2024. He also served as the Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs and oversaw the abrogation of Article 370 during his tenure in the home ministry.

He is a 1988-batch IAS officer from the Kerala cadre. As the resident commissioner of Kerala in Delhi, he was deputed by the state government to evacuate 46 nurses stuck in Erbil in war-torn Iraq in 2014.

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Now he has been appointed as the Election Commissioner. Rajya Sabha on December 12 passed a bill to regulate the appointment and service terms of Chief Election Commissioners and election commissioners. The bill replaces the Election Commission (Conditions of Service of Election Commissioners and Transaction of Business) Act, 1991.

The first task before the new election commissioner will be to ensure the successful conduct of the Lok Sabha polls which are slated to be held in April-May this year.

(With inputs from agencies)