Election Commissioner of India | |
---|---|
Reports to | Parliament of India |
Seat | Nirvachan Sadan, New Delhi, India |
Appointer | President of India |
Term length | 6 years or at the age of 65 (whichever is earlier) |
Inaugural holder | Sukumar Sen |
Salary | ₹225,000 (US$2,800) |
Website | Election Commission of India |
This article is part of a series on the |
Politics of India |
---|
Indiaportal |
The Election Commissioners of India are the members of Election Commission of India, a body constitutionally empowered to conduct free and fair elections in India. An election commissioner is appointed by the President of India on the recommendation of a three member selection committee headed by the Prime Minister of India. The term of an election commissioner can be a maximum of six years or till he/she attains sixty five years of age. Election Commissioners are usually members of the Indian Civil Service.
Since 1950, the Election Commission of India was a single member body with only the Chief Election Commissioner. As per The Election Commissioner Amendment Act, 1989, the Commission was made a multi-member body with two additional election commissioners who were appointed to the commission for the first time on 16 October 1989. On 1 January 1990, the post of election commissioners were abolished again. [2] The Election Commission was once again made as a three member body on 1 October 1993. [3]
The election commissioners form part of the Election Commission of India, a body constitutionally empowered to conduct free and fair elections to the national, the state legislatures, President and Vice-President. This power of the Election Commission of India is derived from the Article 324 of the Constitution of India. [2] Election Commissioners are usually members of the Indian Civil Service. The Election Commission of India consists of a chief election commissioner and two election commissioners. The chief election commissioner does not have overruling powers and any decision is taken by the opinion of the majority among the three. [2]
The appointment and term of the election commissioner is prescribed in the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023. As per the Section 7 of the act, an election commissioner is appointed by the President of India on the recommendation of a selection committee headed by the Prime Minister of India and consisting of the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha and a member of the Union Council of Ministers to be nominated by the Prime Minister. [4] The term of the CEC can be a maximum of six years from the date on which he/she assumes his office. However, the CEC retires from office if he/she attains the age of sixty-five years before the expiry of the term. [2]
While the CEC can only be removed by office through the process of impeachment requiring two-thirds majority of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha to be present and voting for the same, election commissioners can be removed by the President on the recommendation of the CEC. [2] In 2009, Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami sent a recommendation to the then President Pratibha Patil to remove Election Commissioner Navin Chawla due to his partisan behavior in favor of a particular political party. [5] The President opined that such a recommendation is not binding on the president and rejected the same. [6]
As per the Election Commission (Condition Of Service Of Election Commissions And Transaction Of Business) Act, 1991, the salary of an election commissioner is the same as salary of a Judge of Supreme Court of India. [7] The CEC draws a monthly salary of ₹350,000 (US$4,400) plus allowances. [7] [8]
Designation | Name | Took office | Left office |
---|---|---|---|
Chief Election Commissioner [9] | Rajiv Kumar | 15 May 2022 | 18 February 2025 |
Election Commissioners [1] | Gyanesh Kumar | 14 March 2024 | 26 January 2029 |
Sukhbir Singh Sandhu | 14 March 2024 | 5 July 2028 |
Name | Took office | Left office | Span |
---|---|---|---|
V.S. Seigell | 16 October 1989 | 2 January 1990 | 78 days |
S. S. Dhanoa | 16 October 1989 | 2 January 1990 | 78 days |
G.V.G. Krishnamurty | 1 October 1993 | 30 September 1999 | 5 years, 364 days |
Ashok Lavasa | 23 October 2018 | 31 October 2020 | 1 year, 313 days |
Anup Chandra Pandey | 9 June 2021 | 14 February 2024 | 2 years, 250 days |
Arun Goel | 19 November 2022 | 9 March 2024 | 1 year, 111 days |
The prime minister of India is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the executive. The prime minister has to be a member of one of the houses of bicameral Parliament of India, alongside heading the respective house. The prime minister and their cabinet are at all times responsible to the Lok Sabha.
The president of India is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the supreme commander of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu is the 15th and current president, having taken office from 25 July 2022.
The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. As of 2023, it has a maximum membership of 250, of which 238 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using single transferable votes through open ballots, while the president can appoint 12 members for their contributions to art, literature, science, and social service. The total allowed capacity is 250 according to article 80 of the Indian Constitution. The current potential seating capacity of the Rajya Sabha is 245, after the Jammu and Kashmir (Reorganisation) Act, 2019, the seats came down to 245. The maximum seats of 250 members can be filled up at the discretion and requirements of the house of Rajya Sabha.
The Government of India, also known as the Central Government, is the national authority of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, consisting of 28 union states and eight union territories.
The vice president of India is the deputy to the head of state of the Republic of India, i.e. the president of India. The office of vice president is the second-highest constitutional office after the president and ranks second in the order of precedence and first in the line of succession to the presidency. The vice president is also the ex officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
India has a parliamentary system as defined by its constitution, with power distributed between the union government and the states. India's democracy is the largest democracy in the world.
A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district (constituency) to the legislature of State government in the Indian system of government. From each constituency, the people elect one representative who then becomes a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). Each state has between seven and nine MLAs for every Member of Parliament (MP) that it has in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of India's bicameral parliament. There are also members in three unicameral legislatures in Union Territories: the Delhi Legislative Assembly, Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly and the Puducherry Legislative Assembly. Only a Member of the Legislative Assembly can work as a minister for more than 6 months. If a non-Member of the Legislative Assembly becomes a Chief Minister or a minister, he must become an MLA within 6 months to continue in the job. Only a Member of the Legislative Assembly can become the Speaker of the Legislature
The Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC) heads the Election Commission of India, a body constitutionally empowered to conduct free and fair elections. An election commissioner is appointed by the President of India on the recommendation of a three member selection committee headed by the Prime Minister of India and senior most election commissioner is appointed as chief election commissioner. The term of a CEC can be a maximum of six years or till he/she attains sixty five years of age. The Chief Election Commissioner is usually a member of the Indian Civil Service and mostly from the Indian Administrative Service.
Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) is an apex Indian governmental body created in 1964 to address governmental corruption. In 2003, the Parliament enacted a law conferring statutory status on the CVC. It has the status of an autonomous body, free of control from any executive authority, charged with monitoring all vigilance activity under the Central Government of India, advising various authorities in central Government organizations in planning, executing, reviewing, and reforming their vigilance work.
Navin Chawla is a retired Indian civil servant and writer, who served as 16th Chief Election Commissioner of India. Four phases of the Indian general election to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament, were executed under his supervision in April and May 2009.
General elections were held in India in five phases between 16 April 2009 and 13 May 2009 to elect the members of the fifteenth Lok Sabha. With an electorate of 716 million, it was the largest democratic election in the world until being surpassed by the 2014 general election.
The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs is an Indian government ministry. It is headed by the Union Cabinet Minister of Parliamentary Affairs.
General elections were held in India between 25 October 1951 and 21 February 1952, the first after India attained independence in 1947. Voters elected the 489 members of the first Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India. Elections to most of the state legislatures were held simultaneously.
A Lokpal is an anti-corruption authority or body of ombudsman who represents the public interest in the Republic of India. The current Chairperson of Lokpal is Ajay Manikrao Khanwilkar. The Lokpal has jurisdiction over central government to inquire into allegations of corruption against its public functionaries and for matters connected to corruption. The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act was passed in 2013 with amendments in parliament, following the Jan Lokpal movement led by Anna Hazare in 2010. The Lokpal is responsible for enquiring into corruption charges at the national level while the Lokayukta performs the same function at the state level. The age of Lokpal on the date of assuming office as the chairperson or a member should not be less than 45 years.
N. Gopalaswami, served as 15th Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC) and has been awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2015. He is a 1966 batch Indian Administrative Services officer belonging to the Gujarat cadre. He took over the charge of CEC on 30 June 2006 and retired in April 2009. He is currently the president of Vivekananda Educational Society which runs a group of schools in and around Chennai. He was appointed as the Chairman of Kalakshetra for a term of five years starting from 22 October 2014, until 2019.
Elections in the state of Bihar, India are conducted in accordance with the Constitution of India. The Assembly of Bihar creates laws regarding the conduct of local body elections unilaterally while any changes by the state legislature to the conduct of state level elections need to be approved by the Parliament of India.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) appoints several top posts within the Government of India.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body established by the Constitution of India empowered to conduct free and fair elections in India. The Election commission is headed by a Chief Election Commissioner and consists of two other Election Commissioners.
One Nation, One Election is a proposal under consideration by the Government of India to synchronise elections for the Lok Sabha and all state assemblies. It intends to hold these elections simultaneously, either on a single day or within a specific time frame.
The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023 is an Act of the Parliament of India to replace the existing Election Commission Act, 1991.