Former Delhi Chief Secretary Vijay Dev on Thursday took the charge of the State Election Commission, which conducts municipal polls in Delhi and Chandigarh. Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal administered the oath to Dev at Raj Niwas. Dev will hold the office for a term of six years from the date he assumes charge or till he attains the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.
Baijal also took it to twitter and wrote, "Administered the oath of office to Vijay Kumar Dev, IAS (Retd.) as new Election Commissioner of the State Election Commission of the National Capital Territory of Delhi at a function held at Raj Niwas." Dev's appointment comes after the retirement of S K Srivastava from the post on Wednesday.
Srivastava recently came into the limelight when he postponed the announcement of poll dates for three municipal corporations in Delhi during a press conference in March. After the three MCDs merged into a single entity-Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the proposed polls are expected to be delayed.
The Lok Sabha passed the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022, which seeks to unify the three municipal corporations of Delhi into one. After which the The Rajya Sabha also passed the Bill to with voice votes after negating all amendments sought by the Opposition.
The erstwhile Delhi Municipal Corporation was trifurcated into three Municipal Corporations: South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), and East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) in 2011 vide the Delhi Municipal Corporation Amendment Act, 1911 (Delhi Act, 12 of 2011).