Rajiv Kumar appointed as next Chief Election Commissioner

Rajiv Kumar will take charge as the next Chief Election Commissioner of India on May 15, the government announced on Thursday, a notification issued by the Law Ministry said. In pursuance of clause (2) of Article 324 of the Constitution, the President appointed Shri Rajiv Kumar as the Chief Election Commissioner with effect from the 15th of May 2022.

Kumar will oversee several crucial elections in his tenure as CEC, starting with by-polls, the Presidential and Vice Presidential polls in July followed by a string of assembly elections and then the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Kumar took charge as the Election Commissioner of the Election Commission of India (ECI) on September 1, 2020. Prior to assuming charge in the Election Commission, Kumar had been the chairman of the Public Enterprises Selection Board. He joined as the PESB chairman in April 2020.