New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind has appointed retired IAS officer Anup Chandra Pandey as election commissioner.
The appointment restores the three-member commission to its full strength, which will now oversee the next major decisive elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand next year.
Pandey, a 1984 Uttar Pradesh cadre officer, was appointed to the Electoral Commission with effect from the date he took office.
A notice in this regard was issued on Tuesday by the legislative department, the ministry of law and justice.
Pandey will now be on the panel of three members of the Electoral Commission who were vacant after former Chief Electoral Commissioner Sunil Arora on April 12.
Chief Electoral Commissioner Sushil Chandra and Electoral Commissioner Rajiv Kumar are the other two members of the panel.
Pandey was elected on 28 June 2018 by Uttar Pradesh Prime Minister Yogi Adityanath to head the state bureaucracy. He retired in August 2019. He was the general secretary of Uttar Pradesh under Adityanath and also as commissioner for infrastructure and industrial development state.
Born on February 15, 1959, Pandey held several key positions. He has a BTech degree in mechanical engineering, an MBA degree and a doctorate in ancient history.
The 62-year-old will take office in February 2024 when he turns 65, according to the age criteria set by the election commissioners.
The next Lok Sabha polls could be announced sometime in March 2024, which could be held under Pandey’s supervision.
Source: Telangana Today