President Ram Nath Kovind has appointed Sushil Chandra, the senior-most Election Commissioner, as the Chief Election Commissioner of India and will assume charge today.
He will succeed Sunil Arora who demitted office on Monday. Mr Chandra, 63, who was appointed Election Commissioner in February 2019, weeks before the Lok Sabha election, replaces Sunil Arora as India’s top poll official. During his term in office he will oversee the conduct of polls in five states – Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur.
Before his two-year tenure as an Election Commissioner, Sushil Chandra was Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and, since his appointment, has worked on 10 state elections.
Mr Chandra ascends to the Election Commission’s top post at a time when it is being fiercely criticised for failing to apply the rules evenly – to both the ruling BJP and opposition parties.