Retired IAS officers Gyanesh Kumar and SS Sandhu were appointed as new Election Commissioners on Thursday by a panel chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress party’s leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said.
Speaking about the appointment, Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who was present at the meeting, said, “In this committee, govt has the majority….One Mr Kumar from Kerala and one Mr B. Sandhu from Punjab have been selected as Election Commissioners.”
Chowdhury also said six names came up before the panel for the selection of the two ECs.
He, however, said the Chief Justice of India should have been part of the selection panel and there was no clarity on how six names were shortlisted from over 200 candidates that are said to have come before the search committee headed by the Law Minister.
The selection panel was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and it was attended by Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and other Union members. However, the election commissioners was appointed by the president.