New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led selection committee on Thursday picked retired IAS officers Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu as new election commissioners.

A selection committee comprising Prime Minister, Opposition leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal met on Thursday noon to finalise the two names.

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.

Who Are Sukhbir and Gyanesh, Newly-Appointed ECs? 

Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, a retired 1998-batch IAS officer, served as the chief secretary of Uttarakhand. He was elevated to the top bureaucrat post when Pushkar Singh Dhami was elected as the Chief Minister in 2021. 

Earlier in his bureaucracy journey, Sandhu served as the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) Chairman and as additional secretary, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resources Development. 

Sandhu. who completed his MBBS from Government Medical College, Amritsar, also holds a Master's Degree in History from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. He also has a law degree. 

Gyanesh Kumar, a retired 1988-batch Kerala-cadre IAS officer, served as secretary in the ministry of cooperation led by Amit Shah. 

Previously, he served as the secretary at the ministry of parliamentary affairs. Kumar retired from the services after his superannuation on January 31, 2024.