President Ramnath Kovind has appointed Rajiv Kumar as the Chief Election Commissioner in the Election Commission of India. Rajiv Kumar will assume the charge of office of the Chief Election Commissioner with effect from 15th of May.
Sushil Chandra will demit the Office of the Chief Election Commissioner on 14th of this month.
A 1984-batch Indian Administrative Service officer of the Bihar/Jharkhand cadre, Kumar superannuated from service in February 2020.
“In pursuance of clause (2) of article 324 of the Constitution, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Rajiv Kumar as the Chief Election Commissioner with effect from the 15th May, 2022,” read the notification.
Once Chandra demits office, there will be a vacancy in the poll panel.
Born in 1960, Kumar will demit office sometime in middle of February 2025.
Besides the President and the Vice President elections due shortly, the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and several assembly polls will be held under his watch.
Kumar was the chairperson of the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) when he was appointed an election commissioner.
He took charge as an election commissioner on September 1, 2020, after a vacancy was created following the resignation of then election commissioner Ashok Lavasa.
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