The Election Commission of India has appointed Gyanesh Kumar and Balwinder Sandhu as new Election Commissioners in the country's top poll panel. The decision followed the meeting of the Prime Minister Modi-led committee.
Senior bureaucrat Gyanesh Kumar has been appointed Election Commissioner. It is learnt that Kumar is a retired IAS officer of Kerala Cadre who oversaw the abrogation of Article 370 as head of the Kashmir Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Another senior bureaucrat, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, to be the second Election Commissioner. Sandhu is an Officer of the 1988 batch Uttarakhand Cadre who has held important positions in the Central Govt and the Govt of Uttarakhand, Govt of Uttar Pradesh and Govt of Punjab.
"They (govt) have the majority (in the committee who appoints election commissioner). Earlier, they had given me 212 names, but 10 minutes before the appointment they again gave me just six names. I know that the CJI isn't there, govt has made such a law that the CJI doesn't interfere and the Central govt can choose a favourable name. I am not saying that it's arbitrary but the procedure that is being followed has some lacunae," said Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha.
"In this committee, govt has the majority....One Mr Kumar from Kerala and one Mr B. Sandhu from Punjab have been selected as Election Commissioners," Chowdhury said.