Sunil Arora to take charge as 23rd Chief Election Commissioner today

NEW DELHI: Sunil Arora will assume charge as the country's 23rd Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) on Sunday. He succeeds Om Prakash Rawat who retired on Saturday.

Importantly, the Election Commission will hold the 2019 Lok Sabha elections under him. 

Arora’s name was earlier cleared by the Centre and sent to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Besides the Lok Sabha polls, assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, Maharashtra, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim will also be held under Arora next year.

A CEC of the Election Commission can have a tenure of six years or hold office till the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. The convention is to appoint the senior-most election commissioner as chief election commissioner.

A former bureaucrat, Arora was appointed as election commissioner on August 31, 2017.

Arora (62) had been the information and broadcasting secretary, and the secretary in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

A 1980-batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, Arora has worked in ministries such as finance, textiles and the Planning Commission.

He also served as joint secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation during 1999-2002 and the CMD, Indian Airlines, for five years -- two years as an additional charge and three years as full charge.

In Rajasthan, besides district postings in Dholpur, Alwar, Nagaur and Jodhpur, he was secretary to the chief minister during 1993-1998 and principal secretary to CM (2005-2008), besides handling information and public relations (IPR), Industries and Investment Departments.

(With Agency inputs)