Meet The New Election Commissioner Of India, Anup Chandra Pandey

New Delhi: Anup Chandra Pandey on Wednesday took charge as the new election commissioner of India.

The post had fallen vacant following the retirement of Sunil Arora in April.

Pandey, who served as chief secretary in the Uttar Pradesh government from September 2017 to August 2019, is a 1984-batch IAS officer.

He graduated from Punjab Engineering College in Chandigarh and holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Punjab University (Chandigarh) and a doctorate in ancient history from Bihar’s Magadh University.

Pandey also served as a joint secretary in the Central government for four years.

“In pursuance of clause (2) of article 324 of the Constitution, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Anup Chandra Pandey, IAS (Retd) (UP: 1984) as the Election Commissioner with effect from the date he assumes the office,” stated a gazette notification released by President Ram Nath Kovind’s office.

Pandey will join chief election commissioner Sushil Chandra and election commissioner Rajiv Kumar to comprise the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Having been criticized for refusing to curtail the eight-phase West Bengal assembly elections in March-April amidst the raging second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, ECI’s next assignment will be to conduct state elections in Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh next year.