Reacting on the opposition being received on the appointment of the Election Commissioners, the Centre has defended the process and has called all the challenges to the legislation ‘politically motivated’.
New Delhi: Arun Goel resigned from the position of Election Commissioner on March 9, leaving two places of this position vacant and Rajiv Kumar in duty as the Chief Election Commissioner. Days after Goel’s resignation, a Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led committee announced the names of two new Election Commissioners – Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu. Opposition and several groups are challenging the appointment process of election commissioners and to this, the Centre has responded and defended the law on the basis of which the appointment has been made. The Central Government has called the challenges to the legislation as ‘politically motivated’.
Centre Defends Appointment Of Election Commissioners
As mentioned earlier, Centre has defended the law and process of the appointment of Election Commissioners. It has opposed any and every kind of challenges to the law and panel; the high-level panel appointed the Election Commission of India members, used to have the Chief Justice of India (CJI) but recently, according to the CEC Act, the CJI was replaced by a member of the Union Cabinet. Now, the panel comprised of the Prime Minister, member of the Union Cabinet and the Leader of Opposition.
Challenges To Legislation ‘Politically Motivated’
Responding to the petitioners challenging the legislation of the Election Commissioners’ appointment, the government has said that these challenges are ‘politically motivated’ and that they are ‘created only on basis of unsupported and pernicious statements’. The government further said, “Instead, a political controversy is sought to be created… only on the basis of bare, unsupported, and pernicious statements about vague and unspecified motives…”
Who Are New Election Commissioners Of India
The new Election Commissioners of India, as appointed by the PM-led panel, are Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu. Gyanesh Kumar is an alumni of Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-Kanpur) and he first worked at HUDCO. Gyanesh Kumar, is a batchmate of Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, an IAS officer of 1988-batch and is from the Kerala cadre. Gyanesh Kumar has been the Secretary in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and has also served as a Secretary in the Ministry of Cooperation, led by Home Minister Amit Shah. He retired from the services on January 31, 2024 after his superannuation.
Speaking of Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, he is an IAS officer of the 1988-batch and is from the Uttarakhand cadre; he has been the Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand and also the Chairman of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). Sukhbir Singh Sandhu is an alumni of the Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) in Amritsar.
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