Retired IAS officer Anoop Chandra appointed as Election Commissioner

President Ram Nath Kovind has appointed retired IAS officer Anoop Chandra Pandey as Election Commissioner. After this appointment, all the members of the three-member commission will now with full force oversee the crucial assembly elections to be held in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand next year.

The Legislative Department of the Ministry of Law and Justice issued a notification in this regard on Tuesday.
Pandey will now be on the three-member panel of the Election Commission, which fell vacant after former Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora retired on April 12.
Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra and Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar are the other two members in the panel.

Pandey was chosen by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to head the state’s bureaucracy on June 28, 2018. He retired in August 2019. He served as Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh under Adityanath as well as Commissioner of Infrastructure and Industrial Development in the state.
Born on February 15, 1959, Pandey has held many important positions. He holds a BTech degree in Mechanical Engineering, an MBA degree and a doctorate in Ancient History.

The next Lok Sabha election may be announced in March 2024, which may be under Pandey’s watch.