Who are Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar, the newly appointed election commissioners?

A panel chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi picked Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar as the new election commissioners on March 14. The confirmation came from Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury who was also part of the panel. Chowdhury hit out at PM Modi for the manner in which the top poll officers were selected. Sandhu and Kumar's names were shortlisted from a list of over 200 candidates.

Who is Sukhbir Singh Sandhu?

Born in Punjab, Sandhu, a 1998-batch retired IAS officer, served as the chief secretary of Uttarakhand under Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami in 2021. He has also served as the chairman of the National Highways Authority of India and additional secretary of the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development.

Sandhu also boasts of an impressive educational background. He did his MBBS degree from Amritsar’s Government Medical College. He also has a Master's degree in History from Guru Nanak Dev University and a degree in law.

The former bureaucrat was conferred the President Medal in recognition of his services as Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana, Punjab. He also received the 2001 President of India Medal in recognition of services rendered during the Census of India.

Who is Gyanesh Kumar?

Kumar is a 1988-batch Kerala cadre IAS officer. According to reports, he served as a secretary in the Ministry of Cooperation led by Amit Shah. Earlier, he served as the secretary at the ministry of parliamentary affairs.

According to reports, the former IAS officer is believed to have played a pivotal role in the abrogation of Article 370.

Kumar is an engineering graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur where he did a BTech in Civil Engineering. He has also done a PG in Economics from Harvard, USA besides studying CFA at the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI).