Sukhbir Sandhu, Gyanesh Kumar appointed Election Commissioners: Adhir Ranjan

New Delhi: The selection committee under Prime Minister Narendra Modi picked up bureaucrats Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar as two Election Commissioners on Thursday, committee member and leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Choudhury told media.

A 1988-batch IAS officer, Sandhu retired as Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand Government.

Kumar is also a 1988-batch Kerala-cadre IAS officer, who retired as Secretary of the Ministry of Cooperation.

The PM-led selection committee were given five shortlisted names by a search committee headed by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Wednesday.

Based on the recommendation of the selection committee, President Droupadi Murmu will then appoint the two members of the poll panel.

Once the appointments are notified, they will be the first to have been made under the new law.

The law also gives power to the three-member selection panel to appoint a person not short-listed by the search committee.

The vacancies were created by the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey on February 14 and the surprise resignation of Arun Goel on March 8. His resignation was notified on March 9.

Before the new law on the appointment of CEC and ECs came into force recently, the election commissioners were appointed by the President on the government's recommendation and as per custom, the senior-most was appointed as CEC.

Clause 2 of Article 324 of the Constitution states that the Election Commission shall consist of the Chief Election Commissioner and such number of other Election Commissioners, if any, as the President may from time to time fix.

Originally, the commission had only a CEC. It currently consists of the CEC and two election commissioners.

Two additional commissioners were first appointed on October 16, 1989, but they had a very short tenure till January 1, 1990. Later, on October 1, 1993, two additional election commissioners were appointed.

The concept of a multi-member EC has been in operation since then, with decision made by a majority vote.