The selection of a new Chief Election Commissioner<\/a> – who will oversee the conduct of polls in Bihar later this year and, most probably in Bengal and Tamil Nadu in 2026, and Assam and Kerala too – will begin soon, sources told NDTV. The committee is expected to meet Monday.<\/p>\n It will consist of Prime Minister Narendra Modi<\/a>, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in his capacity as the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.<\/p>\n The process will start a day before the Supreme Court hears petitions against the new law governing selection of a CEC and ECs. Critics say the law gives the centre an edge in the processes.\u00a0<\/p>\n READ |\u00a0<\/strong>Top Court To Hear Petitions On Poll Body Appointments On Feb 19<\/a><\/p>\n The current Chief Election Commissioner is Rajiv Kumar, who will demit office on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Mr Kumar was appointed as the CEC in May 2022.<\/p>\n Since then he has overseen multiple high-profile electoral exercises, including the Lok Sabha election in April-June last year and Jammu and Kashmir’s first Assembly poll in over a decade.<\/p>\n READ |\u00a0<\/strong>Omar Abdullah Back As J&K Chief Minister After 10 Years<\/a><\/p>\n He conducted the presidential elections in 2022 and in 2023 oversaw the Karnataka and Telangana polls, which the Congress won, and the Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan polls, which the BJP won.<\/p>\n He concluded his tenure as the poll panel chief with last week’s Delhi election.<\/p>\n In January, while announcing the Delhi poll dates, Mr Kumar had quipped he plans to “detoxify” himself by spending several months in solitary confinement in the Himalayas after he retires.<\/p>\n READ |\u00a0<\/strong>“Will Go To Himalayas”: Poll Body Chief On Post-Retirement Plans<\/a><\/p>\n “I will detoxify myself for the next four-five months… go to the Himalayas, be away from the glare of (the media). I need some solitude…” he said. Mr Kumar, a 1984-batch IAS officer from the Bihar\/Jharkhand cadre, also spoke about wanting to give back to teach underprivileged children.<\/p>\n Mr Kumar’s tenure as the Chief Election Commissioner was marked by multiple complaints, particularly from the Congress and, in the run-up to the Delhi election, the Aam Aadmi Party.<\/p>\n The opposition had routinely alleged the EC favours the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and also questioned the use of EVMs, or electronic voting machines, claiming it can be hacked.<\/p>\n READ |\u00a0<\/strong>“No Drawback In EVMs, Not Going Back To Paper Ballots”: Poll Commissioner<\/a><\/p>\n The EC also came under fire over the release of data on voting day; during the Haryana election last year, for example, the Congress was very critical of delays in publishing live voting trends.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, AAP boss Arvind Kejriwal had hit out last month, days before voting for the Delhi election, declaring the poll panel had “surrendered before the BJP”.<\/p>\n Mr Kejriwal – whose party was thumped, and who lost his seat in the Assembly – hinted darkly at a quid-pro-quo between Mr Kumar and the central government, a charge the CEC flatly denied.<\/p>\nRajiv Kumar As CEC<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Retirement Plans?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Claims During Tenure<\/strong><\/h3>\n