Gyanesh Kumar appointed as chief election commissioner
New Delhi, Feb 17 (PTI): Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was appointed as the next chief election commissioner on Monday, the law ministry said.
Kumar is the first CEC to be appointed under the new law on the appointment of the members of the Election Commission (EC).
His term will run till January 26, 2029, days before the EC is expected to announce the schedule of the next Lok Sabha election.
Vivek Joshi, a 1989-batch Haryana-cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, has been appointed as an election commissioner.
During his tenure as the 26th CEC, Kumar will oversee the Bihar Assembly polls later this year, and the Kerala and Puducherry Assembly polls in 2026.
Similarly, he will oversee the Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, which are also due in 2026.
Kumar, who played a key role in implementing decisions following the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution in Jammu and Kashmir during his stint in the Union home ministry, took charge as an election commissioner on March 15, 2024.
His appointment came hours after the Congress asked the government to defer its decision on the new CEC till the Supreme Court concludes its hearing on a petition challenging the composition of the selection panel.
The Congress's demand was put forth by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi during a meeting of the selection panel chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sources said.
The meeting took place in the South Block office of the prime minister. Besides Modi and Gandhi, Home Minister Amit Shah is the third member of the selection panel.
Kumar is a 1988-batch Kerala Cadre IAS officer.
After completing his B.Tech in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, he studied Business Finance in ICFAI, India and Environmental Economics in HIID, Harvard University, US.
He has worked in the government of Kerala as the assistant collector of Ernakulam, sub-collector of Adoor, managing director of the Kerala State Development Corporation for SC/ST, municipal commissioner of the Corporation of Cochin, besides holding other posts.
As a secretary to the government of Kerala, Kumar handled diverse departments, such as finance resources, fast-track projects and the public works department.
In the government of India, he has rich experience of working as the joint secretary in the Ministry of Defence, joint secretary and additional secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, secretary in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and secretary in the Ministry of Cooperation. He superannuated on January 31, 2024.
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Sullia: Woman, three-year-old child found dead under mysterious circumstances in lake
Mangaluru: A woman and her three-year-old child were found dead under mysterious circumstances in a lake near their residence at Kodial village under Bellare police station limits, on Sunday.
The deceased have been identified as Madhusree (34), the wife of Arwara Harish of Kodial village in Sullia taluk, and their three-year-old child Dhanvi.
According to police, Harish lived with his parents, wife, and child at their Arwara residence.
On Sunday morning, when Madhusree and the child, who had gone to sleep on Saturday night, were found missing, family members began searching for them. Their bodies were later discovered in a lake located on private land close to their house.
It has been alleged that Madhusree may have tied the child to her waist with a cloth before jumping into the lake, allegedly committing suicide.
Madhusree was a native of Betageri in Puttur taluk and had married Harish four years ago. Bellare police visited the spot, conducted a preliminary investigation, and registered a case.
