<p>As the term of Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla expires next month and Haryana cadre IAS officer S Y Qureshi takes over as CEC, there will be a vacancy in the three-member Election Commission. <br /><br />Sources told Deccan Herald on Monday that Sonia and Singh are keen that a woman officer take over as commissioner. The Centre may chose between two senior-most women IAS officers –– Santha Sheela Nair and Sushma Nath. Nair, a 1973 batch officer from the Tamil Nadu cadre, is currently mines secretary and is due to retire next month. <br /><br />Nath, a 1974 batch officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, is currently expenditure secretary and will retire early next year. If the track record of Sonia Gandhi is anything to go by––she is credited with bringing in women in key posts, not to speak of pushing the Women’s Reservation Bill––it is no surprise if the mantle falls on a woman officer. <br /><br />Not that India did not have a woman in the EC. V S Rama Devi was the CEC for two weeks in 1990 before she was made a governor. She was the CEC before the commission was made multi-member. However, if a woman officer is appointed now, she will serve the EC for a full five years.<br /><br />There are male claimants for the post. Finance secretary Ashok Chawla is among the front-runners. A 1973 batch Gujarat cadre officer, he is due to retire in early 2011. Agriculture Secretary T Nanda Kumar, a 1973 batch officer of Jharkhand cadre, is also said to be a contender. <br /><br />There is also a section within the Congress and the government which is keen to bring an officer from the backward north-east region. <br /><br /></p>
<p>As the term of Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla expires next month and Haryana cadre IAS officer S Y Qureshi takes over as CEC, there will be a vacancy in the three-member Election Commission. <br /><br />Sources told Deccan Herald on Monday that Sonia and Singh are keen that a woman officer take over as commissioner. The Centre may chose between two senior-most women IAS officers –– Santha Sheela Nair and Sushma Nath. Nair, a 1973 batch officer from the Tamil Nadu cadre, is currently mines secretary and is due to retire next month. <br /><br />Nath, a 1974 batch officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, is currently expenditure secretary and will retire early next year. If the track record of Sonia Gandhi is anything to go by––she is credited with bringing in women in key posts, not to speak of pushing the Women’s Reservation Bill––it is no surprise if the mantle falls on a woman officer. <br /><br />Not that India did not have a woman in the EC. V S Rama Devi was the CEC for two weeks in 1990 before she was made a governor. She was the CEC before the commission was made multi-member. However, if a woman officer is appointed now, she will serve the EC for a full five years.<br /><br />There are male claimants for the post. Finance secretary Ashok Chawla is among the front-runners. A 1973 batch Gujarat cadre officer, he is due to retire in early 2011. Agriculture Secretary T Nanda Kumar, a 1973 batch officer of Jharkhand cadre, is also said to be a contender. <br /><br />There is also a section within the Congress and the government which is keen to bring an officer from the backward north-east region. <br /><br /></p>
