PM Modi-led panel to meet today to select new Chief Election Commissioner
A three-member selection committee, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will meet on Monday to choose the next Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) as Rajiv Kumar prepares to retire on February 18 upon reaching the age of 65.
The selection panel includes PM Modi, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, and a Union Minister nominated by the Prime Minister. According to sources, Law Minister Arjun Meghwal will also participate in the meeting.
This will be the first appointment under the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which took effect in December 2023. Election Commissioners S.S. Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar were appointed under this provision in March 2024.
Before this law, the senior-most Election Commissioner was typically elevated to the top position after consultations with the outgoing CEC. However, under the revised selection process, appointments are now determined by a majority or consensus within the selection panel.
Several Public Interest Litigations (PILs) challenging the new selection process—particularly the exclusion of the Chief Justice of India from the panel—are currently pending before the Supreme Court, which is set to hear the matter on February 19.
The panel may either elevate one of the incumbent Election Commissioners or appoint a new CEC from outside. If a new candidate is chosen, they will oversee the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, in addition to conducting key state assembly elections, including Bihar in 2024, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Puducherry in 2026, and Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, and Himachal Pradesh in 2027.
