Tue Feb 18 15:11:45 UTC 2025: ## Gyanesh Kumar Appointed India’s 26th Chief Election Commissioner
**New Delhi, India** – Gyanesh Kumar, a 1988 batch IAS officer of the Kerala cadre, has been appointed as India’s 26th Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). He succeeds Rajiv Kumar, who recently retired.
Kumar, originally from Agra, Uttar Pradesh, had a distinguished career in the Indian Administrative Service. Before his appointment as CEC, he served as the Secretary of the Department of Cooperation and held positions in the Central Home Department. His father, Dr. Subodh Kumar Gupta, a retired Chief Medical Officer, played a significant role in shaping his career. Kumar’s academic journey involved studies in Gorakhpur, Lucknow, and Kanpur, culminating in a B.Tech in Civil Engineering from IIT Kanpur.
His family boasts an impressive array of civil servants. His younger brother, Manish Kumar, is an IRS officer. His sister, Roli, runs a school in Indore, and her husband, Upendra Kumar Jain, is an ADG-rank IPS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre. Furthermore, his two daughters have also followed in the family’s footsteps: Medha Roopam and her husband, Manish Bansal, are both IAS officers of the 2014 batch, currently serving as District Magistrates in Kasganj and Saharanpur respectively. His other daughter, Abhisri, is an IRS officer married to Akshay Labroo, an IAS officer of the 2018 Tripura cadre.
Kumar’s appointment as CEC marks a significant moment, not only for his illustrious career but also for the remarkable achievements of his family within the Indian civil services.
First Piper 