Ex-bureaucrats Sukhbir Sandhu, Gyanesh Kumar named election commissioners

Former bureaucrats Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar have been named as the new election commissioners by a panel chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi committee member and Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said on Thursday reported news agency PTIAddressing reporters at his residence soon after the meeting ended Chowdhury said six names came up before the panel for the selection of the two ECs and the names of Sandhu and Kumar were finalised by a majority of members of the highpowered panelHe however said the Chief Justice of India should have been part of the selection panel and there was no clarity on how six names were shortlisted from over 200 candidates that are said to have come before the search committee headed by the Law MinisterThe six names shortlisted were that of Utpal Kumar Singh Pradeep Kumar Tripathi Gyanesh Kumar Indevar Pandey Sukhbir Singh Sandhu Sudhir Kumar Gangadhar Rahate all former bureaucratsOf the six names the names of Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu were finalised for appointment as election commissioners he said reported PTIDuring his tenure in the Home ministry Gyanesh Kumar oversaw the abrogation of Article 370The vacancies had come up after the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey on February 14 and the sudden resignation of Arun GoelOn March 9 Election Commissioner Arun Goel resigned days before the expected announcement of the schedule for the 2024 Lok Sabha electionsHis tenure was till December 5 2027 and he would have become Chief Election Commissioner CEC after incumbent Rajiv Kumar retired in February next yearAccording to a law ministry notification Goels resignation has been accepted by President Droupadi Murmu with effect from Saturday It was not immediately known why he stepped downGoel a retired bureaucrat was a 1985batch IAS officer of the Punjab cadre He had joined the Election Commission in November 2022Following the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey in February and Goels resignation the threemember EC has now only one member CEC Rajiv KumarAccording to the new law on appointment of CEC and ECs a search committee headed by the law minister and comprising two union secretaries will shortlist five namesThen a selection committee headed by the prime minister and comprising a Union Cabinet Minister to be nominated by the PM the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha or the leader of the singlelargest opposition party in the House picks one nameThe CEC or EC then gets appointed by the PresidentAshok Lavasa had resigned as election commissioner in August 2020 He had given dissent notes on various model code violations decisions taken by the EC in the last Lok Sabha pollsOriginally the commission had only a CEC It currently consists of the CEC and two election commissionersTwo additional commissioners were first appointed on October 16 1989 but they had a very short tenure till January 1 1990 Later on October 1 1993 two additional election commissioners were appointedThe concept of a multimember EC has been in operation since then with decision made by a majority voteWith inputs from PTI