Gyanesh Kumar, Sukhbir Sandhu To Be New Election Commissioners: Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury

Bureaucrats Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar will fill the two vacant posts of Election Commissioners of Election Commission of India, Congress's leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said on Thursday.

Announcing the names after the meeting of the selection committee, the Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, "In this committee, the government has the majority....One Mr Kumar from Kerala and one Mr B. Sandhu from Punjab have been selected as Election Commissioners."

Vacancies fell vacant after the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey in February and the unexpected resignation of Arun Goel last Saturday.

Chowdhury was part of the committee led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to appoint two Election Commissioners to assist Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar as the electoral body prepares for the upcoming Lok Sabha election.

This panel comprises the Prime Minister, a Union minister chosen by the PM, and the Leader of the Opposition or the largest Opposition party in the Lok Sabha. However, the Chief Justice of India is not part of it.

The nominees for the two vacant positions were - Uttpal Kumar Singh, Pradeep Kumar, Gyanesh Kumar, and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu.

Registering his unhappiness over the selection panel, the Congress leader said, "They (govt) have the majority (in the committee who appoints election commissioner. Earlier, they had given me 212 names, but 10 minutes before the appointment they again gave me just six names. I know that the CJI isn't there, government has made such a law that the CJI doesn't interfere and the Central government can choose a favourable name. I am not saying that it's arbitrary but the procedure that is being followed has some lacunae."

Who are they?

Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, a former IAS Officer from the 1988 Uttarakhand Cadre, has held significant roles in both the Central Government and various state governments, including Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab.

He holds an MBBS from Government Medical College, Amritsar, and a master's degree in history from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. Additionally, he is a law graduate.

Gyanesh Kumar, a 1988-batch IAS officer from the Kerala cadre, has worked closely with Home Minister Amit Shah and served as the secretary in the Ministry of Cooperation.