Sunil Arora succeeds O P Rawat as new Chief Election Commissioner

The Centre formally announced the appointment of seniormost election commissioner Sunil Arora as the Chief Election Commissioner Tuesday.

A notification issued by the Law Ministry said the 62-year-old former bureaucrat would take over his new position Sunday. The incumbent CEC, Om Prakash Rawat, demits office on Saturday.

The Election Commission will hold the 2019 general election under him. Moreover, Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, Maharashtra, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim are scheduled to be held next year.

A CEC or an EC can have a tenure of six years or hold office till the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. The convention is to appoint the senior-most election commissioner as chief election commissioner.

A former bureaucrat, Arora was appointed as the election commissioner in August last year. He had been the information and broadcasting secretary, and secretary in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

A 1980-batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, Arora had worked in ministries such as finance, textiles and also at the Planning Commission.

He had also served as the joint secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation from 1999-2002 and the chief managing director (CMD) of the Indian Airlines for five years.

In Rajasthan, besides district postings in Dholpur, Alwar, Nagaur and Jodhpur, he was secretary to the chief minister during 1993-1998 and principal secretary to the CM from 2005-2008. He had also handled information and public relations (IPR), industries and investment departments.