New Delhi: Gyanesh Kumar officially took charge as India’s new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) on Wednesday morning, replacing Rajiv Kumar in the role. His time in office will extend over four years and that will be a time during which he will be responsible for several state elections and the upcoming presidential election. A seasoned bureaucrat, Mr. Kumar is an ex-IAS officer from the Kerala cadre and previously held key positions in the Home Ministry under Home Minister Amit Shah. In particular, he is the author of the bill that became the basis for the cancellation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.
First Remarks as CEC
Upon taking the office, Mr. Kumar stressed the role of voting in a democracy. “The first step for nation-building is voting. Hence, every Indian citizen above 18 years of age well should be an elector and should never refrain from voting. The Election Commission was, is, and will always be with the voters,” he stated in his first public remarks.
Appointment Amid Political Tensions
However, Mr. Kumar’s appointment has not been without controversy. The announcement came late Tuesday night, prompting strong objections from opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party. Mr. Gandhi, one of the three panel members of the selection committee, also expressed objection to the nomination and lodged a formal dissent note, expressing concerns with the fairness of the selection process.
The core issue lies in the composition of the selection committee, which currently includes the Prime Minister, a cabinet minister nominated by the PM, and the Leader of the Opposition. Critiques are made that the architecture of this can result in an overconcentration of authority over the nomination of major party personnel, thus contaminating the neutrality of the Election Commission. A legal challenge regarding the committee’s constitutionality is currently pending in the Supreme Court, with a hearing scheduled later today.
Rahul Gandhi’s Criticism
On Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi, the former Congress MP, used social media site X (formerly Twitter) to protest what he described as the “midnight shift” by the Government to appoint Mr. Kumar. He accused the Modi government of violating a previous Supreme Court order that had mandated the inclusion of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) in the selection committee.
During the meeting of the committee to select the next Election Commissioner, I presented a dissent note to the PM and HM, that stated: The most fundamental aspect of an independent Election Commission free from executive interference is the process of choosing the Election… pic.twitter.com/JeL9WSfq3X
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 18, 2025
The basic question of an independent Election Commission free from the control of the executive is how Election Commissioners are selected and the head of the Commission, the Chief Election Commissioner sits,” Mr. Gandhi posted on X.
He also reproached the Modi government to modify the selection process by taking up a hasty bill in Parliament which was, in reality, a removal of the Chief Justice from the committee. By breaching the Supreme Court directive and ousting the CJI from the committee itself, the Modi regime has compounded the anxieties of hundreds of million of voters in general about the integrity of our electoral system,” he further stated.
Legal and Political Implications
The Supreme Court had earlier ruled that the CEC selection panel should consist of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and the Chief Justice of India to ensure impartiality. Nevertheless, the central government after that passed a bill changing this arrangement replacing the CJI with a minister nominated by government. This legal reform has triggered worries regarding the transparency and autonomy of India’s electoral apparatus.
The Supreme Court intends to take up this issue, a decision that may have significant consequences for the functioning of the Election Commission and the ensuing elections. If the courts side against the government it could result in fundamental changes in the process of appointing election commissioners in the future.
New Appointments to the Election Commission
Besides Mr. Kumar’s appointment as the CEC, the Election Commission has also released that Dr. Vivek Joshi has been inducted as the third member of the CEC panel. Dr. Joshi, a 1989-batch IAS officer of the Haryana cadre joined this morning. His joining concludes the executive body which manages India’s electoral process, which is a three-member body.
Conclusion
Gyanesh Kumar’s appointment as Chief Election Commissioner surfaces at a pivotal juncture in Indian democracy, when a number of elections loom ahead. Unfortunately, controversy over the selection process of the Chairman has triggered a wider discussion issue regarding the independence of the Election Commission. In light of the Supreme Court’s examination into the validity of the appointment process, everyone’s focus will be on what happens in the next few days. At the same time, due to the commitment of EC led by Mr. Kumar free and fair elections are being upheld in the country.
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