India / Ex-Finance Secy Rajiv Kumar to replace Ashok Lavasa as Election Commissioner

New Delhi: Former Finance Secretary and retired IAS officer Rajiv Kumar has been appointed Election Commissioner (EC), a government order said on Friday.

Kumar, a 1984-batch Jharkhand cadre retired IAS officer, has been appointed in place of EC Ashok Lavasa who resigned from the post Tuesday, the Ministry of Law and Justice said in a notification. Outgoing EC Lavasa has been appointed vice-president of Asian Development Bank. Kumar will assume charge from August 31, the day Lavasa leaves office.

Lavasa still has over two years left in his term at the Election Commission. He would have retired as Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) in October 2022. As Chief Election Commissioner, he would have conducted Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa, among other states. His premature exit — the second in the Election Commission’s history — puts his colleague Sushil Chandra next in the line of succession.

Kumar, who retired as Finance Secretary on April 29 this year, was appointed Chairman of Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) for a period of three years. As Chief Election Commissioner, he is expected to oversee the next general election in 2024.