What Was The Hurry?: Congress Questions Gyanesh Kumar's Appointment As Chief Election Commissioner

Gyanesh Kumar will continue as the CEC till January 26, 2029, days before the EC is expected to announce the schedule of the next Lok Sabha election.

Kumar, a 1988-batch IAS officer from the Kerala cadre, played a key role in implementing decisions following the abrogation of Article 370.

Source : Election Commission

Gyanesh Kumar: The Congress has questioned the appointment of Gyanesh Kumar as the new Chief Election Commissioner. Kumar has been appointed as the next Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) by a selection panel, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is the first CEC to be appointed under new law on the appointment of election commissioners. 

Kumar will continue as the CEC till January 26, 2029, days before the EC is expected to announce the schedule of the next Lok Sabha election. During his tenure as the 26th CEC, Kumar will oversee the Bihar Assembly polls later this year, and the Kerala and Puducherry Assembly polls in 2026.

Similarly, he will oversee the Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, which are also due in 2026.

Kumar's appointment was made hours after Congress asked the government to defer its decision on the new CEC till the Supreme Court concludes its hearing on a petition challenging the composition of the selection panel.

Besides Modi and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Home Minister Amit Shah is the third member of the selection panel.

Congress questioned the appointment saying the formation of the selection committee has been challenged in the Supreme Court.

"The formation of the selection committee for this matter has been challenged in the Supreme Court. The matter has also been accepted for hearing in the Supreme Court," Congress MP Pramod Tiwari said.

"In such a situation, what was the hurry that the appointment was made during this time?...In a democracy, elections should not only be fair but should also appear to be fair...This is a contempt of the Supreme Court and the basic spirit of the Constitution," he added.

Who Is Gyanesh Kumar?

Kumar, a 1988-batch IAS officer from the Kerala cadre, played a key role in implementing decisions following the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution in Jammu and Kashmir during his stint in the Union home ministry. He took charge as an election commissioner on March 15, 2024.

According to the Election Commission, Kumar holds a B.Tech degree in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Engineering in Kanpur. He has also studied Business Finance at the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India and Environmental Economics at Harvard University.

He previously held various positions in the Government of Kerala, including Assistant Collector of Ernakulam, Sub Collector of Adoor, and Managing Director of the Kerala State Development Corporation for SC/ST. He also served as the Municipal Commissioner of Cochin, MD of Kerala State Cooperative Bank, Director of Industries and Commerce, and District Collector of Ernakulam.