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16-03-2024
Bureau Report + Agencies
NEW DELHI: India appointed two officials as election commissioners on Thursday, filling vacant spots in the three-person body ahead of an expected announcement of a date for a national election likely to be won by incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The appointments come days after the unexplained resignation of one commissioner, which drew expressions of concern from several opposition parties.
Another commissioner retired in February. Both departures come at a time when India’s parliamentary election, the world’s largest poll with some 960 million voters, is due by May.
The Ministry of Law and Justice said in the government gazette that President Droupadi Murmu had appointed Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu as commissioners, without giving more details about them.
Opinion polls predict an easy win for Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies in the vote for members of the lower house of parliament.
That would give him a third straight term in the world’s fifth largest economy.
Meanwhile, the second-highest official in India’s election commission resigned abruptly on Saturday, days ahead of the expected announcement of the date of the country’s general election.
Arun Goel’s resignation as election commissioner leaves the Election Commission of India with only one of its three mandated top officials in their posts to conduct the world’s largest election with more than 960 million registered voters.
The Ministry of Law and Justice said in a gazette notification, opens new tab that Indian President Droupadi Murmu had accepted Goel’s resignation, without citing a reason for his departure.
Goel, who took over as election commissioner in November 2022, did not immediately answer calls from Reuters, and a commission spokesperson said he did not know why Goel had stepped down.
Opinion polls have predicted an easy win for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the election due by May, which would give him a rare third straight term in office.
The election commission’s decisions are taken by majority vote among three commissioners, each with a tenure of six years or up to the age of 65 years, according to its website, opens new tab.
The electoral body is now left only with Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, after Anup Chandra Pandey retired as a commissioner last month, and Goel’s resignation drew expressions of concern from several opposition parties.
