Ex-bureaucrats Sukhbir Sandhu, Gyanesh Kumar named election commissioners

The vacancies had come up after the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey on February 14 and the sudden resignation of Arun Goel.

New Delhi: Retired bureaucrats Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar were on Thursday chosen as Election Commissioners by a selection committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, amid objections raised by Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury over not sharing the shortlist on time.

At the selection committee meeting, the government brought a short list of six names and proposed the names of Sandhu, a former IAS officer of Uttarakhand cadre and Kumar of Kerala cadre, for the two vacancies in the Election Commission.

Now, the government will forward the recommendation to President Droupadi Murmu. After she gives her approval, the appointment will be notified.

The vacancies arose following the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey on February 14 and the sudden resignation of Arun Goel on March 9.

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.

With Modi and Union 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.

Sandhu was former NHAI Chairperson and Uttarakhand Chief Secretary while Kumar retired as Secretary in the Ministry of Cooperation.

Kumar 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 He also headed the Jammu and Kashmir division in 2019 when Article 370 was revoked.

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.