NEW DELHI: The Prime Minister-chaired high-powered committee will meet on March 15 to finalise the names of new election commissioners, top sources said.Two vacancies of election commissioners came about following the resignation of Arun Goel and Anup Chandra Pandey’s retirement.The panel is chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has a Union minister and the Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury as members.It will meet on March 15 and name the persons for appointment as election commissioners.The election commissioners will be appointed by the president.The sources said the appointment of two new election commissioners is likely to be made by March 15 to fill the vacancies created by Pandey’s retirement and Goel’s surprise resignation.They said the notice for the meeting was sent on Saturday afternoon while Goel’s resignation was notified in the evening.The sources added that during the meeting, two appointments of election commissioners are likely to be made against one, as anticipated earlier.The March 15 notice, the sources said, refers to the postponed meeting of the committee that was to be held on March 7 to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Pandey, who demitted office on February 14 on attaining the age of 65 years.Days before the poll panel is expected to announce the schedule for the Lok Sabha polls, Goel resigned on Friday morning.His resignation was accepted by President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday and the Union Law Ministry issued a notification to announce it.This leaves Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar as the sole member of the poll body.A search committee under Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, and comprising the Home secretary and the Department of Personnel and Training secretary, will first prepare two separate panels of five names each for the two posts.Later, the selection committee headed by the prime minister will name two persons for appointment as election commissioners.Sources had earlier said the selection committee could meet either on March 13 or 14, depending on the convenience of the members, and the appointments were likely by March 15.Before a new law on the appointment of the chief election commissioner and election commissioners came into force recently, the election commissioners were appointed by the president on the government’s recommendation and, as per custom, the senior-most was appointed as the chief election commissioner.Clause 2 of Article 324 of the Constitution states that the Election Commission shall consist of the chief election commissioner and such number of other election commissioners, if any, as the president may from time to time fix.Responding to questions on the reasons behind Goel’s resignation, the sources said he might have resigned due to personal reasons.They also rejected suggestions that there were differences between Goel and Kumar, saying records of internal communication, minutes and decisions show there was no dissent recorded by Goel.If seasoned bureaucrats brainstorm on an issue, there are bound to be differences in opinion and perception.These cannot be described as differences, they added.Goel, who tendered his resignation on Friday morning, did not attend the crucial meeting between the Election Commission and top home ministry and railways officials to firm up the deployment and the movement of central forces across India for poll duty.Goel was a 1985-batch IAS officer of the Punjab cadre.He had joined the Election Commission in November 2022.His tenure was until December 5, 2027, and he would have become chief election commissioner after incumbent Rajiv Kumar retired next February.Ashok Lavasa had resigned as election commissioner in August 2020.He had given dissent notes on various model code of conduct violation decisions taken by the Election Commission during the last Lok Sabha polls.Originally, the commission had only a chief election commissioner.It currently consists of the chief election commissioner and two election commissioners.Two additional commissioners were first appointed on October 16, 1989, but their tenures lasted till January 1, 1990.Later, on October 1, 1993, two additional election commissioners were appointed.The concept of a multi-member Election Commission has been in operation since then, with decisions made by a majority vote.
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