PM led panel holds meeting to select new CEC

A crucial meeting of the three-member committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to choose new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) was held here on Monday, a day before Rajiv Kumar demits office as the CEC.

Besides the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi is also a part of the committee for the selection of the CEC.

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Notably, this will be the first appointment of the CEC under the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023 which came into force in December 2023.

Under the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioner Act, 2023, appointments of the CEC and Elections Commissioners (ECs) are made based on a majority or consensus decision within the selection committee.

Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi at a press conference said, “The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023 brought by the Modi government has been challenged in the Supreme Court. So far, the Supreme Court passed three orders and the next hearing is scheduled to take place on February 19. Therefore, the stand of Congress regarding the selection of the CEC is very clear, that the meeting held today should have been postponed.”

“Removing or trying to keep the Chief Justice out of the appointment (of CEC) process as an independent entity, the government has made it clear, they want only control but not credibility. The most important thing for the Election Commission is credibility,” he said.

It may be mentioned that Kumar had joined ECI as Election Commissioner on September 1, 2020 and assumed charge as the 25th CEC of India on May 15, 2022. His tenure spanning 4.5 years in the Commission was characterized by silent yet deep-rooted reforms across various domains spanning structural, technological, capacity development, communication, international cooperation and administration.