 "Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu. PTI")
With Lok Sabha elections just around the corner, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led panel on Thursday picked bureaucrats Sukhbir Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar for the posts of Election Commissioners (ECs).
The appointments come after one of the ECs Arun Goel resigned last week and while the other, Anup Pandey resigned in February.
Addressing reporters at his residence soon after the meeting ended, Chowdhury said six names came up before the panel for the selection of the two ECs and the names of Sandhu and Kumar were finalised by a majority of members of the high-powered panel.
The six names shortlisted were those of Utpal Kumar Singh, Pradeep Kumar Tripathi, Gyanesh Kumar, Indevar Pandey, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, Sudhir Kumar Gangadhar Rahate, all former bureaucrats.
Who is Sukhbir Sandhu?
Hailing from Punjab, Sukhbir Singh Badal is a retired IAS officer of the 1998 batch
Sandhu was appointed as the chief secretary of Uttarakhand under Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami in 2021
He also has experience serving as the chairman of the National Highways Authority of India and additional secretary of the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development
Sandhu has an expansive educational background with a Master’s degree in History from Guru Nanak Dev University, an MBBS degree from Amritsar’s Government Medical College as well as a law degree
Who is Gyanesh Kumar?
Gyanesh Kumar is a retired IAS officer of the 1988-batch Kerala-cadre
Kumar served as secretary in the Amit Shah-led Ministry of Cooperation
Previously, he was also the secretary of the Parliamentary Affairs
The ex-IAS officer played a pivotal role in the abrogation of Article 370 bill