NEW DELHI : Sushil Chandra assumed charge as the 24th Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) on Tuesday.
Sushil Chandra was appointed as the new CEC by President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday, the day Sunil Arora demitted office.
Chandra was appointed as an Election Commissioner on February 14, 2019, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
He is set to demit office on May 14, 2022, and will oversee the conduct of assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand, and Manipur as the CEC. While the terms of assemblies in Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand, and Manipur are set to end March 2022, the term of Uttar Pradesh Assembly will end in May 2022.
During his over two-year tenure as an Election Commissioner, Chandra supervised assembly elections of more than 10 states and worked towards making the entire nomination process online.
The online process allowed candidates to file e-nomination directly, making the system faster. It also allowed the error-free feeding of the candidate’s information and uploading of affidavits in the system. The candidate-related information is also made available in the public domain through the Affidavit Portal and Voter Helpline App on the same day when the nomination is filed.
Before his appointment in the EC, Chandra was the chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).
Under his leadership, CBDT in 2017 started ‘Operation Clean Money’ in a bid to curb illegal wealth and black money.
Chandra has worked towards curbing the menace of black money during the election. He has emphasized the need for inducement-free elections and steps have been taken in this direction by the poll panel including the appointment of special expenditure observers.
As per the website of the EC, Chandra belongs to the 1980 Batch of the Indian Revenue Service. He has been Election Commissioner in ECI since 15th February 2019. He is also Member of the Delimitation Commission since 18th February 2020 looking after the Delimitation of Jammu Kashmir UT. (AGENCY)
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