New Delhi: Former Uttar Pradesh-cadre IAS officer Anup Chandra Pandey was appointed as an election commissioner on Tuesday, restoring the three-member commission to full strength.
The legislative department in the law ministry said the president is pleased to appoint Pandey, a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the 1984 batch, as an election commissioner with effect from the date he assumes office.
There had been a vacancy in the poll panel. Sunil Arora demitted office as the chief election commissioner (CEC) on April 12.
While Sushil Chandra is the CEC, Rajiv Kumar is the other election commissioner.
Before his retirement in August 2019,
Pandey, who has a BTech degree in mechanical engineering, an MBA degree and a doctorate in ancient history, had served as the chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh under chief minister Yogi Adityanath and was also the Infrastructure and Industrial Development Commissioner of the state, according to a report in the Indian Express.
Pandey was also in charge of handling Yogi Adityanath’s flagship crop loan waiver initiative. His LinkedIn profile notes that he was “instrumental” in planning, organising and coordinating the Kumbh Mela in 2019. It also says that the “peaceful, transparent & incident-free conduct of Lok Sabha elections 2019” was also a “very big achievement”.
Pandey (62) will demit office in February 2024 on attaining the age of 65 years, according to the age criteria guiding the election commissioners.
The next Lok Sabha polls could be announced sometime in March 2024.
Born on February 15, 1959, Pandey has held several key positions, including that of the chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh.
Pandey will serve on the poll panel when Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand go to polls early next year.
(With inputs from PTI)