The Center on June 8 appointed Anup Chandra Pandey, a retired IAS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre (1984-batch) as Election Commissioner.
Pandey, 62, who retired from civil services in August 2019, has served as the Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. He has also been the Infrastructure and Industrial Development Commissioner (IIDC) of Uttar Pradesh.
Pandey was appointed Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh on June 30, 2018, and retired on August 31, 2019. Uttar Pradesh goes to the polls early next year along with four other states. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had won the last UP assembly election, held in February-March,2017, with a thumping majority and Yogi Adityanath was made the Chief Minister.
His appointment restores the three-member commission to its full strength. Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra and the other Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar are the other two members of the panel which will oversee next year’s assembly polls.
The vacancy in the commission was created after former Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora’s retired on April 12. Pandey will retire from office in February 2024.
The Opposition parties have recently criticised Election Commission over its recent conduct during the elections to five assemblies, including West Bengal. In April, for example, Shiv Sena alleged that the Election Commission was “biased” against Mamata Banerjee after the poll panel recently barred the West Bengal chief minister from campaigning for 24 hours over certain remarks made by her.
Born in Chandigarh, Punjab on February 15, 1959, Pandey has a BTech degree in mechanical engineering, an MBA degree in material management, and a Ph.D. in ancient history.
Pandey was “instrumental” in planning, organizing, and coordinating the Kumbh Mela in 2019 and the investor’s summit in 2018, according to his LinkedIn profile. The mega investor’s summit had witnessed delegates from around the world and an investment of over Rs four lakh crore.
“A career bureaucrat with more than 35 years of experience both in Central and state government. An eventful stint as Chief Secretary of UP, the largest state in India which included successfully piloting schemes like the farm loan waiver scheme, investors' summit, and holding of mega-events like the Kumbh Mela and Pravasi Bharatiya Divas,” reads his profile.
Pandey has also served in UP as Udyog Bandhi Chairperson Finance Commissioner, NOIDA Chairperson, Principal Secretary Medical Education.
While serving for the Government of India as Joint Secretary in the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment, Pandey represented India in ILO, G20, and other international fora.