Om Prakash Rawat appointed new chief election commissioner

New Delhi: Election commissioner Om Prakash Rawat was on Sunday appointed as the next chief election commissioner (CEC), according to a notification by the ministry of law and justice.

Outgoing CEC Achal Kumar Joti retires on Monday.

Additionally, former finance secretary Ashok Lavasa was appointed as election commissioner.

Lavasa’s appointment ensures that the three-member panel of the poll body sees no vacancy after Joti’s retirement. The third member on the top body is election commissioner Sunil Arora.

Rawat will take over as the next CEC on Tuesday and his tenure ends in December.

Rawat’s first task will be to oversee elections in three Northeastern states—Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya—as well as the Karnataka polls. He is likely to also oversee elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, depending on the election schedule.

Rawat is a retired Indian Administrative Service officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre of the 1977 batch. Before being appointed as election commissioner, Rawat served as secretary in the ministry of heavy industries and public enterprises. He also served as principal secretary to the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh from 2004 to 2006.