Ex-IAS Sandhu, Kumar appointed as election commissioners
image for illustrative purpose
New Delhi: Former IAS officers Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Sandhu were on Thursday appointed as election commissioners.
The law ministry issued a notification announcing the appointments. A selection committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met earlier in the day to recommend their names. The vacancies had come up in the Election Commission after the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey on February 14 and the sudden resignation of Arun Goel on March 8. The poll panel is headed by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar
Committee member and Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Chowdhury, however, gave his dissent note on the selection, raising questions over the procedure. He said he had sought the names of the shortlisted candidates for the posts in the Election Commission but was provided 212 names the night before the committee met.