Gyanesh Kumar Appointed As New Chief Election Commissioner, To Replace Rajiv Kumar

New Delhi: Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar has been appointed as the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India, the Law Ministry announced on Monday. Gyanesh Kumar, is a 1988-batch IAS officer from Kerala cadre and the first CEC who has been appointed under new law on appointment of election commissioners. He will replace incumbent CEC Rajiv Kumar. 

An IAS officer from the Kerala cadre, Gyanesh Kumar is the senior most of the two election commissioners on the three-member panel that was led by Rajiv Kumar. Apart from Gyanesh Kumar and Rajiv Kumar, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, an officer from the Uttarakhand cadre, is the third commissioner on the panel.

Gyanesh Kumar's term as CEC will be valid till January 26, 2029. This would be before the poll body's announcement for the next Lok Sabha elections.

Apart from Gyanesh Kumar, Vivek Joshi, a 1989-batch Haryana -cadre IAS officer, has been appointed as an election commissioner.

After assuming the charge, Gyanesh Kumar will conduct Bihar Assembly elections later this year, and Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal Assembly polls in 2026.

Who is Gyanesh Kumar, new CEC of India? 

Born on January 27, 1964, and IAS officer from 1988 Kerala cadre, Gyanesh Kumar is the new Chief Election Commission of India. After retiring from the Indian Administrative Service, Gyanesh Kumar was appointed as Co-operation Secretary of India on January 31, 2024. On March 14, 2024, he was appointed as Election Commissioner of India.

Gyanesh Kumar was born in Agra and completed his BTech in Civil Engineering from IIT Kanpur. He studied Business Finance at ICFAI, India and went for higher studies to Harvard University for Environmental Economics.

The new CEC, played a significant role in implementing decisions following the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir during his stint in the home ministry.

Gyanesh Kumar had also served as Co-operation Secretary, Parliamentary Affairs Secretary and additional Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

As cooperation secretary under Gyanesh Kumar, the Ministry saw enactment of the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) (Amendment) Act, 2023 and formation of three new national cooperative bodies including Bharatiya Beej Sahakari Samiti Limited (BBSSL), National Cooperative Organics Limited (NCOL), and National Cooperative Export Limited (NCEL).

Kumar played a pivotal role in the launch of the CRCS-Sahara refund portal for submission of claims by genuine depositors of four Multi-State Cooperative Societies of Sahara Group.

Between 2007-2012 under the UPA government, Gyanesh Kumar served as Joint Secretary (Defence Production) in the Ministry of Defence.