Sunil Arora is the third Election Commissioner: Former bureaucrat has worked for finance ministry and Planning Commission

On Thursday, the Ministry of Law and Justice announced the appointment of former bureaucrat Sunil Arora as the third Election Commissioner. After Nasim Zaidi retired  as Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) in July, there was a vacancy in the poll panel. Achal Kumar Joti is the current CEC, while Om Prakash Rawat is the other Election Commissioner. Arora will fill the vacancy in Nirvachan Sadan and will restore Election Commission’s status to a full Commission. The 61-year-old’s arrival, reported  The Times of India, may lead Election Commission to initiate hearing in the office of profit case against 20 AAP MLAs from Delhi. [caption id=“attachment_3995885” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Sunil Arora is the new Election Commissioner. News18[/caption]

The former information and broadcasting secretary’s appointment will come into effect from the day he assumes charge, the law ministry’s notification said on Thursday.

Wide-ranging experience Arora had been the information and broadcasting secretary, and secretary in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. During his term in the I&B ministry, Arora was involved in the implementation of digital addressable system (DAS) in Phase III areas. The Phase III FM radio auctions also took place during his tenure, reported News18. Arora, a post graduate in English, has served as an advisor in public broadcaster Prasar Bharati. He was among the top two contenders for the post of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Prasar Bharati, reported  The Asian Age but lost the top post to Shekhar Vempati. In 2016, Arora was appointed as the Director General and CEO of the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA), a think tank that comes under the corporate affairs ministry.

A 1980 batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, Arora has worked in ministries and departments such as Finance, Textiles and Planning Commission.

He also served as joint secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation during 1999-2002 and CMD, Indian Airlines for five years (two years as additional charge and three years as full charge). According to NDTV, Arora’s colleagues at the Indian Airlines said that he had steadily turned around the airline, which bounced back from losses to profits, during his stint. In Rajasthan, besides district postings in Dholpur, Alwar, Nagaur and Jodhpur, he was secretary to the chief minister during 1993-1998 and principal secretary to chief minister (2005-2008) and handled information and public relations, industries and investment departments. With inputs from PTI