New Delhi:

Two election commissioners are likely to be appointed before March 15 to fill the gaps following the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel, sources said on Sunday A vacancy created by unexpected resignation.

Goel resigned on Friday morning, just days before the poll panel was expected to announce the schedule for the Lok Sabha polls. President Drupadi Murmu accepted his resignation on Saturday, a notification issued by the Law Ministry announced the news.

This leaves Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar as the sole member of the poll body.

Pandey resigned from office on February 14 at the age of 65.

The selection committee headed by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and comprising Home Secretary and Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) will first prepare two separate panels for the two posts, one for each There are five people in the group.

Subsequently, a selection committee headed by the Prime Minister and comprising Union Ministers and Congress leaders in Lok Sabha will appoint the two persons as Election Commissioners.

The Election Commissioner will be appointed by the President.

Sources said the selection committee is likely to meet on March 13 or 14 as per the convenience of the members and the appointments are likely to be completed by March 15.

Prior to the entry into force of the recent new law on the appointment of the Central Electoral Commission and the Electoral Commission, the Electoral Commissioner was appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Government, and by convention the highest level was appointed to the Central Electoral Commission.

Article 324(2) of the Constitution provides that the Electoral Commission shall consist of the Chief Electoral Commissioner and such other Electoral Commissioners (if any) as may be determined by the President from time to time.

Responding to a question on the reasons for Goel’s resignation, sources said that Goel may resign due to personal reasons.

They also rejected claims there were differences between Goel and Kumar, saying internal communications records, minutes of meetings and decisions showed Goel had not recorded any dissent.

Goel, who tendered his resignation on Friday morning, did not attend a key meeting between the European Commission and senior officials of the home ministry and railways to step up deployment and mobilization of central forces across India for poll duty.

Goel is a 1985 batch IAS officer of Punjab cadre. He will join the Election Commission in November 2022 for a term till December 5, 2027, and will become the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) after the current incumbent Rajiv Kumar retires in February next year.

Ashok Lavasa resigned as Election Commissioner in August 2020. He raised objections to various Model Code violation decisions taken by the Election Commission in the last Lok Sabha polls.

Initially, the committee had only one CEC. It currently consists of the Central Electoral Commission and two electoral commissioners.

Two additional commissioners were first appointed on October 16, 1989, but their terms were short-lived, until January 1, 1990. Later, on October 1, 1993, two more election commissioners were appointed.

Since then, the concept of a multi-member executive committee has been implemented, with decisions taken by majority vote.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)