On Monday, Gyanesh Kumar, an IAS official, was named the next Chief election Commissioner. Before this declaration, Kumar was an election Commissioner in the Ministry of home Affairs, where he had previously collaborated with Union home minister amit Shah.
 
A 1988-batch officer from the kerala cadre, Kumar has previously held the position of secretary in several ministries, including Defense, Parliamentary Affairs, and Cooperation.
 
By the new statute about the selection of election commission (EC) members, he is the first CEC to be appointed. His tenure would end on january 26, 2029, only a few days before the ec is anticipated to reveal the dates of the upcoming lok sabha election.

Who is the new chief election commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, who assisted in the rescue of indian nurses who were held captive by ISIS?
 
Kumar will preside over the kerala and puducherry assembly elections in 2026 as well as the bihar assembly elections later this year in his capacity as the 26th CEC. In the same vein, he will supervise the 2026 assembly elections in West bengal and tamil Nadu.
 
The Union Law Ministry's declaration was made just hours after PM narendra Modi, Shah, and leader of the Opposition Rahul gandhi attended a meeting to choose the next CEC at the prime minister's South Block office.
 
Gandhi had voted against Kumar's appointment, hence the vote was not unanimous. In his dissent letter, the LoP reportedly claimed that the meeting was "meaningless" and refused to look at a list of names that were suggested as potential candidates for the CEC.
 
Out of over 485 applicants, the search team recommended five, including Kumar. When article 370 was repealed in august 2019, he was sent to the amit Shah-led home Ministry as Joint Secretary of, kashmir Division.

He led a special desk in the home Ministry in 2020 to handle all issues about the supreme Court's ruling in the ayodhya dispute, including the establishment of the Shri ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, after being appointed additional secretary. On march 15, 2024, he assumed leadership as an election commissioner.

Vivek Joshi, an indian Administrative service (IAS) officer from the 1989 haryana batch, has been named an election commissioner.


 
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Gyanesh Kumar

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19/02/2025 02:30 AM