Rajiv Kumar, the Chief Election Commissioner, is the only member of the poll authority currently. Anup Chandra Pandey retired on February 14 after reaching the age of 65 years.
Two election commissioners are expected to be appointed by March 15, as per sources. These appointments are set to fill the vacancies left by the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey and the sudden resignation of Arun Goel. Goel resigned on Friday morning, just days before the poll panel is likely to announce the Lok Sabha polls schedule. His resignation was accepted by President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday, which was followed by a formal announcement from the Law Ministry.
Rajiv Kumar, the Chief Election Commissioner, is the only member of the poll authority currently. Pandey retired on February 14 after reaching the age of 65 years.
A search committee led by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and including the Home Secretary and the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) Secretary is set to prepare two separate panels of five names each for two posts, as per sources who told news agency PTI.
Following this, a selection committee, chaired by the prime minister and including a Union minister and the Leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, will choose two individuals for appointment as election commissioners. The President will make the final appointments.
According to sources, the selection committee may convene on either March 13 or 14, based on the members’ availability, with the appointments expected to be finalised by March 15.
Under the recently enforced law regarding the appointment of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs), these positions were filled by the President based on government recommendations, with the senior-most typically taking up the role of CEC. This is in line with Clause 2 of Article 324 of the Constitution.
Amidst this, questions have arisen regarding the resignation of Goel, a senior official. Sources have indicated that personal reasons may have led to his decision, dismissing any suggestions of differences between Goel and Kumar. They highlighted that records of internal communication and decisions show no recorded dissent by Goel.
Goel, a 1985-batch Indian Administrative Service officer from the Punjab cadre, had joined the Election Commission in November 2022. His tenure was due to end on December 5, 2027, and he was expected to become the CEC following the retirement of the incumbent, Rajiv Kumar, in February next year.
Notably, Goel was absent from a critical meeting between the EC and top home ministry and railway officials regarding the deployment and movement of central forces across India for poll duty.
This article was published on Business today.
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