Who are the Newly Appointed Election Commissioners by Prime Minister Narendra Modi?

Following the unexpected and untimely resignation of Arun Goel on March 9 and the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey on February 14, there were two openings in the panel of India’s Election Commissioners.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congressman Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury assembled a panel that named Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, a former bureaucrat, and Gyanesh Kumar as the new Election Commissioners on Thursday.

This time the new Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, which the government introduced in December of last year, is being followed for the very first time by the Election Commissioners.

The Ministry of Law and Justice Announced that the President is pleased to appoint Gyanesh Kumar, IAS(Retd.)and Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, IAS (Retd.) as the Election Commissioners.Let us know more about them:-

Dr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu

Dr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu was Born in 1963. He is a 1988 batch IAS officer of Uttarakhand cadre. He has done his graduation of Medicine from Government Medical College in Amritsar, and also holds a Master’s Degree in History from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.

Sukhbir Sandhu previously served as the Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand. He also held important positions like Chairman of the National Highways Authority of India.

Gyanesh Kumar

Gyanesh Kumar was born on 27 January 1964. He is a 1988-batch retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from the Kerala cadre. He was superannuated as Co-operation Secretary of India on January 31,2024.

Gyanesh Kumar was the Parliamentary Affairs Secretary at the Centre, and also served as the additional Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2019.He played a Very Important role in the launch of the CRCS-Sahara refund portal for submission of claims by genuine depositors of four Multi-State Cooperative Societies of Sahara Group.Further about his contributions, Kumar has also served as Joint Secretaryin the Ministry of Defence from 2007 to 2012.

Moment of being Proud for Mr. Gyanesh Kumar’s parents

Gyanesh Kumar’s father, Dr Subodh Gupta is a retired Chief medical superintendent (CMS) from Etah, Uttarpradesh. He was really proud of his son after his appointment as the Election Commissioner of India.

He said that his son’s appointment is by god’s grace and he prays to God for his happiness.Kumar’s mother Satyawati Gupta, is a teacher of Yoga. She conducts camps to teach yoga. When she came to know about her son’s appointment, she said that she wishes her son should stay swasth (Healthy), Vyast (busy with work) and Mast (happy).Gyanesh Kumar’s family is from a quiet town known as Midhakur, which is on the Agra-Jaipur highway in Agra district. His family currently resides in Agra city.

Congressman Questioned the Selection Procedure

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is a Congress Leader in Lok Sabha. He was also the Part of the Panel chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Appointment of the two new Election Commissioner who will assist Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar.Along with the Prime Minister and Adhir Chowdhury, Union Home Minister Amit Shah was also on the panel.The Congress leader told the media that he earlier he was given 212 names for scrutiny , but just 10 minutes before the appointment they gave him just six names to examine. He says that the Chief Justice of India wasn’t there and the ruling government has made the rule as such that the CJI doesn’t get a chance or opportunity to interfere.