PM-led selection panel to pick next CEC on Monday

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led committee on the selection of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) will meet here on Monday to name the successor of incumbent Rajiv Kumar, who demits office on February 18 upon attaining the age of 65.

This will be the first appointment of the CEC under the CEC and Other Election Commissioners Bill, 2023, which came into force in December 2023. It was first used to appoint SS Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar as Election Commissioners in March 2024 to fill vacancies created following the resignation of Arun Goel and retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey.

The new law, whose validity stands challenged before the Supreme Court for not including the Chief Justice of India in the panel, consists of the Prime Minister, a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the government (probably Amit Shah in this case) and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.

It would be interesting to see if the selection panel picks up a new CEC for a six-year term or decides to elevate one of the incumbent election commissioners to the post. If they go for the first option, the new CEC will conduct the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.

Whoever replaces Rajiv Kumar will, however, conduct the crucial Bihar Assembly elections due this year; Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry in 2026 and Goa, Manipur, Punjab, UP, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh in 2027. The matter of challenge to the new law is, meanwhile, expected to be taken up by a Bench led by Justice Surya Kant for hearing on February 19.

The Parliament in December 2023 enacted the Chief Election Commissioner and the other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Condition of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, replacing the CJI in the selection panel with a Union Cabinet Minister.