gyanesh-kumar-appointed-26th-cec-of-india

Gyanesh Kumar has been appointed as the 26th Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India, succeeding Rajiv Kumar.

 

The decision was made by a selection panel led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and comprising Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.

 

Kumar’s tenure as the country’s top election official will run until 26 January 2029. His appointment comes amid objections from the Congress party, which had called for the meeting to be postponed until the Supreme Court delivers its verdict on the composition of the selection panel.

 

A retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the 1988 batch from the Kerala cadre, Kumar has held several key positions in the government.

 

He previously served as Secretary in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and later as Secretary in the Ministry of Cooperation under Amit Shah.

 

He was closely involved in setting up the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust and played a significant role in handling Jammu and Kashmir affairs within the Ministry of Home Affairs when Article 370 was abrogated in 2019.

 

The selection of the new Chief Election Commissioner has sparked political debate, particularly regarding the exclusion of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) from the selection panel.

 

The Congress party has strongly opposed this, arguing that the appointment should have been delayed until the Supreme Court’s final ruling on the matter.

 

The party referred to the Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, which altered the selection process by removing the CJI from the panel.

 

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi criticised the government’s approach, stating that excluding the judiciary from the selection process undermines the Election Commission’s credibility.

 

"By trying to keep the Chief Justice out of the appointment process, the government has made it clear that it wants control over the Election Commission, not credibility. The most important aspect of the Election Commission is its credibility," Singhvi said.

 

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the matter on 19 February, a day after Rajiv Kumar completes his term as CEC. The Congress party maintained that the government should have waited for the court’s verdict before proceeding with the appointment.

 

"Since the Supreme Court had indicated it would take up the case on 19 February and decide on the constitution of the committee, today’s meeting should have been postponed," the party said in a statement.