The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK)-led Tamil Nadu government has reportedly asked State Election Commissioner B Jothi Nirmalasamy to resign from her post. The reported move has raised questions over the constitutional protections attached to the office of the State Election Commissioner.
Nirmalasamy, a 1992-batch IAS officer and recipient of the Kalpana Chawla Award, was appointed as the Tamil Nadu State Election Commissioner in March 2024 by the previous Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government. She succeeded retired IAS officer V Palanikumar. The reported request is the latest in a series of resignations involving retired senior officials who were appointed to key statutory positions during the previous administration.
Earlier, retired IAS officer Shiv Das Meena stepped down as chairperson of the Tamil Nadu Real Estate Regulatory Authority (TNRERA). Authority members L Subramanian and C Sukumar also resigned from their respective positions. In another development, former Director General of Police Shankar Jiwal resigned as chairperson of the Tamil Nadu Fire Commission, while former DGP Sunil Kumar stepped down as chairperson of the Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board. The state government has similarly sought Nirmalasamy's resignation as part of its broader effort to replace officials who were appointed by the previous government.
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At present, Nirmalasamy heads the State Election Commission, which is supervising the phased implementation of electronic voting machines (EVMs) for rural local body elections across the state. As part of the initiative, the commission has procured nearly 50,000 EVMs from Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, allowing voters to cast four votes electronically during local body polls.
She also serves as chairperson of the delimitation commission responsible for redrawing local body boundaries ahead of the elections. The commission is currently carrying out delimitation exercises in 27 districts, covering four municipal corporations, 12 municipalities and several rural local bodies.
The tenure of rural local bodies in 28 districts ended on January 1, 2025, while the terms of local bodies in the remaining nine districts are scheduled to conclude on October 19, 2026. Meanwhile, the tenure of all urban local bodies across Tamil Nadu is set to expire on March 1, 2027.
Officials highlighted the constitutional safeguards attached to the office of the State Election Commissioner. According to them, the Constitution provides that a State Election Commissioner cannot be removed except in the same manner and on the same grounds applicable to the removal of a judge of a High Court, giving the office significant protection from executive action.
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