Gyanesh Kumar, Sukhbir Sandhu formally appointed as new Election Commissioners

Earlier in the day, their names had been recommended by the selection committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

New Delhi: Former bureaucrats Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu were on Thursday appointed as Election Commissioners, amid objections raised in the selection committee meeting by Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury over not sharing the shortlist on time.

With this, the vacancies arose after the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey on February 14 and the surprise resignation of Arun Goel were filled.

The announcement of the schedule for Lok Sabha elections can come any time now after the two new ECs take over charge as early as Friday.

President Droupadi Murmu cleared the names of Kumar and Sandhu, both IAS officers of 1988 batch, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led selection committee recommended their names. Notification of their appointments was published in the gazette at 7:36 PM.

Kumar (61), a former IAS officer of Kerala cadre, had played a key role in setting up the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Theertha Kshetra Trust when he was in the Ministry of Home Affairs as Additional Secretary. He also headed the Jammu and Kashmir division in 2019 when Article 370 was revoked. An IIT-Kanpur alumni, he was in central government since 2016.

Sandhu (62), a native of Punjab who retired as Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand on January 31 after a six month extension, was appointed Lokpl Secretary on February 3. A bureaucrat who holds the MBBS degree as well as an MA degree, He was also former Chairman of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

It was not immediately known who will be the senior among them. The Election Commissioner designated as the senior among the two is likely to hold the Chief Election Commissioner’s post once Rajiv Kumar retires early next year.

The government had not called a meeting to fill the vacancy of Pandey soon after his retirement. Goel's resignation added an immediate urgency for calling a meeting of the selection committee, as the EC was set to announce the schedule for the Lok Sabha elections.

At the selection committee meeting, the government brought a shortlist of six names and proposed the names of Sandhu and Kumar.

With Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah supporting the proposal, the panel chose both the retired bureaucrats, while Chowdhury submitted his dissent note against the decision. Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal was also present in the meeting as the chairman of the search committee.

Besides Kumar and Sandhu, Chowdhury said the other shortlisted candidates were former bureaucrats Utpal Kumar Singh, Pradeep Kumar Tripathi, Indevar Pandey and Sudhir Kumar Gangadhar Rahate.

Chowdhury, who had shot off a letter to the Ministry of Law earlier this week seeking the short list, said he was given a list of 212 names on Wednesday night while the shortlist of six were given to him only ten minutes before the meeting.

"It is not humanly possible to scrutinise 212 names. They sent me very late. The shortlist was given to me just ten minutes before the meeting. How can one assess the candidates for such an important position," he said.

The list initially provided to Adhir had names of 92 officers who retired as Secretary or Secretary equivalent in union government, 93 names of officers serving as Secretary and Secretary equivalent officers in the union government and 15 officers who retired as Chief Secretaries in the past one year among others.

The Home Minister proposed the names of two retired officers following which the Prime Minister asked Chowdhury whether he had anything to say about the names. Chowdhury raised objections to the procedure.