On Monday, Gyanesh Kumar, a former bureaucrat, was named India’s 26th Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), taking over from Rajiv Kumar, who served in the role since May 15, 2022.
Gyanesh Kumar, an IAS officer from the 1988 Kerala batch, will serve until January 26, 2029, just before the Election Commission is likely to reveal the timeline for the upcoming Lok Sabha election.
Gyanesh Kumar, aged 61, had been functioning as an Election Commissioner since March 15 of the previous year. He is the first CEC to be designated under a new legislation regarding the appointment of Election Commission members.
He was instrumental in executing decisions after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution in Jammu and Kashmir during his time in the Union Home Ministry.
Throughout his tenure as the 26th CEC, Gyanesh Kumar will oversee the Assembly elections in Bihar later this year. He will additionally supervise the Assembly elections in Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal in 2026. During his term, the elections for President and Vice-President are scheduled for 2027.
He earned his BTech in Civil Engineering at IIT Kanpur, pursued Business Finance at ICFAI, India, and studied Environmental Economics at HIID, Harvard University, USA.
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He has served in the Government of Kerala as the Assistant Collector of Ernakulam, Sub Collector of Adoor, Managing Director of the Kerala State Development Corporation for SCs and STs, Municipal Commissioner of the Cochin Corporation, Managing Director of the Kerala State Cooperative Bank, Director of Industries and Commerce, and District Collector of Ernakulam.
In the Government of India, he possesses extensive experience serving as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Defence, Joint Secretary and Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Secretary in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, and Secretary in the Ministry of Cooperation. He retired on January 31, 2024.
By law, a Chief Election Commissioner or an Election Commissioner retires at 65 years of age or can serve a six-year term in the election panel.
Following Gyanesh Kumar’s designation as CEC, Vivek Joshi, an IAS officer from the 1989 Haryana cadre, has been named an Election Commissioner. Joshi, who was born on May 21, 1966, will be part of the poll panel until 2031 at the age of 58.
