Amidst a swirl of political activity, the official names for the Election Commissioners' appointment have been revealed. The notifications issued on Thursday evening confirmed the anticipated names suggested by Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. That is, Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu have been duly appointed as Election Commissioners.
Retired from the Ministry of Cooperation
It is to be noted that Gyanesh Kumar had recently retired from the position of Secretary in the Ministry of Cooperation. He has been significantly involved in the Ministry's work since its inception. Prior to this, Gyanesh Kumar was the Joint Secretary of the Kashmir Division in the Home Ministry, during which Article 370 was abrogated.
Who Are the 2 New Election Commissioners? Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Reveals Names After Meeting
1988 Kerala Cadre IAS Officer
Gyanesh Kumar played a pivotal role in the reorganization of Jammu & Kashmir into a Union Territory. As part of the Home Ministry, he had an active part in preparing the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganization Bill and later, was promoted to Additional Secretary. He belongs to the 1988 batch of the Kerala cadre of IAS officers.
About Former IAS Officer Sukhbir Sandhu
The former IAS officer Sukhbir Sandhu was appointed as the new Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand in place of Om Prakash in July 2021. An IAS officer from the 1988 batch, Sandhu had been deputized to the center as the chairperson of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The central government had appointed him for a one-year tenure as the Ombudsman Secretary. It's worth mentioning that Sandhu retired as the Chief Secretary of the Uttarakhand government on September 30 last year.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Questioned the Appointment
Let it be known that the appointment of the Election Commissioners stirred significant political commotion on Thursday. Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury questioned the entire appointment process. Expressing dissatisfaction, he claimed that he was asked to participate in the appointment process in a very impractical manner.
His accusation was that he had been handed a long list of 212 names, given just one night to consider, and then only 6 names were put forward the following morning. This all took place just 10 minutes ago. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury questioned how names could be decided upon in such a short timeframe.
