New Delhi:- A three -member selection committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to be held today to select the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) on Monday. Let us know that, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar is retiring on February 18.

After the recommendation of the committee, the President will appoint the next Chief Election Commissioner. Till now the most senior election commissioner has been promoted as CEC. The meeting of the selection committee will include PM Modi, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and a Union Minister nominated by the Prime Minister. Law Minister Arjun Meghwal is also expected to attend this meeting.

This will be the first appointment of CEC under the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioner Act, 2023, which came into force in December 2023. Under this provision, SS Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar were appointed as Election Commissioners in March 2024. Both commissioners were appointed to fill the vacant posts after Arun Goyal's resignation and Anoop Chandra Pandey's retirement.

Before the introduction of new statutory provisions for the appointment of Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners, the most senior of the two remaining Election Commissioners were usually promoted to the top post after consulting the outgoing Chief Election Commissioner. However, under the revised selection process, now appointments are made on the basis of majority or consensus within the selection panel.

Many PILs regarding the appointment process, especially the Chief Justice of India, are pending in the Supreme Court regarding not joining the panel. The Supreme Court has set a hearing on these petitions on 19 February. Now further it will be interesting to see whether the three -member selection committee chooses the new Chief Election Commissioner or decides to appoint any of the current election commissioners to this post.

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