Gyanesh Kumar to take charge as 26th Chief Election Commissioner on February 19

Gyanesh Kumar appointed as 26th Chief Election Commissioner of India amid legal challenges, overseeing key elections during tenure.

Senior Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar would take over as the 26th Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC) on February 19, a day when the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a petition challenging the law under which he was appointed CEC by a three-member panel led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Mr. Kumar, a 1988 batch Kerala cadre officer of the Indian Administrative Services, retired as secretary in the Ministry of Cooperation on January 31, 2024.

During his tenure in the Union Home Ministry, he played a key role in the setting up of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Theertha Kshetra Trust. He also headed the Jammu and Kashmir Division in the Home Ministry in 2019 when Article 370 was revoked. He was also Parliamentary Affairs Secretary.

He took over as an Election Commissioner in March 2024 and his term as CEC will end in January 2029.

Mr. Kumar is the first CEC to be appointed under the provisions of the new law the “Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023”.

Earlier, Election Commissioners and CECs were appointed by the President after recommendations of the government. The law came into effect after the Supreme Court in its ruling in March 2023, had mandated a selection panel be formed and said that it should comprise the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India. The court had said the order would hold good until a law was made by Parliament.

The Centre replaced the CJI with a Union Minister in the panel when the law was passed giving a dominant role to the Central government in the appointment process.