Who is Gyanesh Kumar, India's newly appointed chief election commissioner
What's the story
Gyanesh Kumar was appointed as India's new chief election commissioner (CEC), succeeding Rajiv Kumar, on Monday.
The Ministry of Law and Justice announced his appointment, which was approved by President Droupadi Murmu. He will take office on Wednesday.
He is the first CEC to be appointed under the disputed Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023.
Profile
Gyanesh Kumar's educational background and career
Kumar is a 1988-batch Kerala cadre retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer.
He has a B.Tech in Civil Engineering from IIT Kanpur, studied Business Finance at ICFAI, India, and Environmental Economics at Harvard University.
He has served as assistant collector of Ernakulam and sub-collector of Adoor in Kerala.
He also served as managing director of the Kerala State Development Corporation for SC/ST and municipal commissioner of Cochin.
Career
Kumar's national level experience and retirement
At the national level, Kumar served as joint secretary in the Ministry of Defence and held positions in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Parliamentary Affairs, and Cooperation.
He also handled departments such as finance resources and public works for the Kerala government.
Kumar retired from service on January 31, 2024.
During his tenure, he will oversee the assembly elections in Bihar later this year and elections in Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal in 2026.
Controversy
Opposition leader expresses dissatisfaction over appointment process
However, the appointment process has been criticized by Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition, who was a member of the panel that selected the CEC along with PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.
According to Gandhi, the decision to exclude the Chief Justice of India from the selection committee breaches a Supreme Court judgment and undermines millions of voters' trust.
He had requested postponing the appointment till the Supreme Court's decision on petitions challenging the appointment process.
Twitter Post
Gandhi shares dissent note
During the meeting of the committee to select the next Election Commissioner, I presented a dissent note to the PM and HM, that stated: The most fundamental aspect of an independent Election Commission free from executive interference is the process of choosing the Election… pic.twitter.com/JeL9WSfq3X
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 18, 2025