Gyanesh Kumar Appointed As Chief Election Commissioner: Law Ministry

Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar has been appointed as the next Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) by a selection panel, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Monday.  

Gyanesh Kumar has become the first CEC to be appointed under new law on appointment of election commissioners. He will continue as the CEC till January 26, 2029, days before the EC is expected to announce the schedule of the next Lok Sabha election.

“In exercise of powers conferred by section 4 of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023 (Act No. 49 of 2023), the President is pleased to appoint Shri Gyanesh Kumar, Election Commissioner as Chief Election Commissioner in the Election Commission of India, with effect from 19th February, 2025,” a statement of the Ministry of Law and Justice said.

Gyanesh Kumar had been working as an Election Commissioner since March 2024. Kumar, a 1988 Batch Kerala Cadre IAS Officer, has served as Secretary to the Government of Kerala and handled diverse departments such as Finance Resources, Fast Track Projects, Public Works Department, Modernising Government Program, and Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs.

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He finished his B.Tech in Civil Engineering from llT Kanpur and has studied Business Finance from lCFAl, lndia and Environmental Economics from HllD, Harvard University, US.

The new CEC will oversee the conduct of the Bihar Assembly Elections and others, including Bengal and Tamil Nadu next year. Meanwhile, Dr. Vivek Joshi, IAS of the 1989 batch, has been appointed as an Election Commissioner.

The appointment of Gyanesh Kumar comes shortly after the selection committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi met in New Delhi on Monday evening and recommended the name of the next CEC to the President, even as the Congress asked the government to defer the decision pending a Supreme Court hearing.

The Election Commission is a three-member body made up of one Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and two Election Commissioners. 

A selection committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was tasked to finalise the name of the next chief election commissioner. The selection committee is composed of PM Modi, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal.