Former bureaucrats Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar have been appointed as the new election commissioners by a committee chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This decision comes as two positions became vacant after the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey in February and the resignation of Arun Goel last week.
Congress leader Adhir Chowdhury, who was part of the selection panel, disclosed that six names were considered for the two election commissioner positions. The shortlisted candidates included Utpal Kumar Singh, Pradeep Kumar Tripathi, Gyanesh Kumar, Indevar Pandey, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, and Sudhir Kumar Gangadhar Rahate. However, there was ambiguity regarding the process of shortlisting these six names from a pool of over 200 candidates.
Who is Sukhbir Singh Sandhu?
Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, born in 1963, is a retired IAS officer from the 1998 batch. He previously served as the chief secretary of Uttarakhand and held positions such as additional secretary in the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development, and chairman of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). Sandhu holds an MBBS degree from Government Medical College, Amritsar, a Master’s Degree in history from Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar, and a law degree. He has been honoured with the President Medal for his services as Commissioner of Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana, Punjab, and the 2001 President of India Medal for his contributions during the Census of India.
Who is Gyanesh Kumer?
Gyanesh Kumar, a retired 1988-batch Kerala cadre IAS officer, served as a secretary in the Ministry of Cooperation under Amit Shah’s leadership. He also held the position of secretary at the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.
