Election Commissioner Arun Goel and Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar (file photo)
Currently, the three-member Election Commission has only one active member: Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar. The reason: The shock resignation of Election Commissioner Arun Goel on Saturday, plus another vacancy (Anup Pandey retired in February).
The president accepted his resignation weeks before the Lok Sabha elections.
The Lok Sabha polls will be held in April-May. Sources told NDTV that the date is expected to be announced sometime next week.
It is unclear what the provocation was behind Goel’s sudden resignation. Mr Goel, 61, will serve until 2027 and is expected to succeed Rajiv Kumar as chief election commissioner when he retires next year.
Mr. Goel, a 1985-batch IAS officer of Punjab cadre, joined the Election Commission in November 2022.
Sources said there were differences on various issues and it would be best for Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar to explain it. Senior officials said Goel cited personal reasons in resigning.
“The government will initiate the process of appointing other election commissioners,” an official said.
Late last year, the Center enacted a law excluding the Chief Justice of India from the process of appointing the country’s top electoral official. The top polling officer will now be appointed by the President on the recommendation of a panel consisting of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and federal cabinet ministers nominated by the Prime Minister.
Before that, a search committee consisting of the law minister and two secretaries must select five candidates from which a search committee headed by the prime minister can choose.
Sources told NDTV that the apex poll body is scheduled to visit Jammu and Kashmir from Monday to Wednesday to assess when polls can be held in the Union Territory. Sources added that the Lok Sabha poll date will be announced immediately after Johnson’s visit.
