Gyanesh Kumar Takes Charge as India's 26th Chief Election Commissioner.
MOUs and Agreement
On February 17, 2025, Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was appointed as the 26th Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) by the Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi-led selection committee. He succeeds Rajiv Kumar and becomes the first CEC appointed under the newly established law governing the selection of Election Commission (EC) members.
- He will assume office on February 19, 2025, and will serve until January 26, 2029.
- Before his appointment, he held the position of Election Commissioner (EC) from March 2024 to February 2025.
- Additionally, Dr. Vivek Joshi, a 1989-batch Haryana-cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, has been appointed as an Election Commissioner. He is currently serving as the Chief Secretary (CS) of Haryana.
Main Point :- (i) Gyanesh Kumar, a 1988-batch Kerala-cadre IAS officer, has held key positions, including Joint Secretary (Defence Production) in MoD (2007-2012) and Additional Secretary in MHA (2019), where he contributed to the abrogation of Article 370.
(ii) He served as India's Parliamentary Affairs Secretary (2021-2022) and later as Cooperation Secretary (2022-2024), playing a key role in enacting the MSCS (Amendment) Act, 2023 and establishing three national cooperative bodies: BBSSL, NCOL, and NCEL.
(iii) The CEC and ECs are now appointed by the President based on a PM-led panel's recommendation under the 2023 Act. A search committee proposes names, service conditions match a Cabinet Secretary, and the 6-year term has no reappointment, ensuring independence as per SC’s advice.
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