Tue Feb 18 20:11:44 UTC 2025: ## New Chief Election Commissioner Appointed Amidst Legal Challenge

**New Delhi, February 19, 2025** – Gyanesh Kumar assumed office as India’s 26th Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) today, just hours after the Supreme Court heard a petition challenging the legality of his appointment. His appointment comes under the newly enacted “Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023,” which has been criticized for giving the central government a dominant role in the selection process.

Kumar, a former Kerala cadre IAS officer, was appointed by a three-member panel comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and, controversially, a Union Minister in place of the Chief Justice of India, as per the new law. The Opposition Congress party had urged the government to postpone the appointment until the Supreme Court ruling on the panel’s composition. Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi submitted a dissenting note during the selection process.

Kumar’s tenure, which ends in January 2029, will oversee several crucial state assembly elections, including Bihar later this year, and those in Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal in 2026. He will also be responsible for the 2027 presidential and vice-presidential elections.

Meanwhile, outgoing CEC Rajiv Kumar, whose term was marked by opposition allegations of bias, demitted office today. In his farewell address, he expressed concern about the timing of certain court hearings, suggesting that they sometimes fuel distrust and could potentially disrupt the electoral process.

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