Election Commissioner Sunil Arora, a retired 1980-batch IAS officer assumed charge as the country's 23rd Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) on Sunday. Arora, the senior-most Election Commissioner, succeeded Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat, who demitted office on Saturday on completion of his tenure.
Arora assumes charge at a time when the Election Commission is in the midst of conducting Assembly elections in five States. A CEC of the Election Commission can have a tenure of six years or hold office till the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. The convention is to appoint the senior-most election commissioner as Chief Election Commissioner.
Upon taking charge as the new CEC, Arora, addressing the media, said his priority is to carry forward preparations for Lok Sabha polls 2019, which started some time ago, covering facets like electoral register, EVMs, voter education etc.
Arora also sought cooperation from all stakeholders, political parties, media, civil society organisations and people at large — "in making our elections totally free, fair, peaceful, accessible and ethical." Arora was appointed an election commissioner in September 2017 — a year after he retired as secretary of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry in April 2016.
Talking about the impact of social media on elections, the CEC said the Committee set up by EC to review Section 126 of R P Act, headed by senior Deputy Election Commissioner Umesh Sinha, will submit its report by December end.
Arora will have a nearly two-and-a-half-year tenure as CEC. Under his supervision, the Commission will conduct Lok Sabha polls next year. Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Odisha, Haryana, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh also have to be held in 2019.
Arora's name was earlier cleared by the Centre and sent to the Rashtrapati Bhavan. He has served in several key positions as a bureaucrat, including as information and broadcasting secretary, secretary in the Ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship and chairman and managing director of Indian Airlines. He has worked as CMD of Indian Airlines for five years.
With a career as a bureaucrat that spans over almost four decades, Arora has dabbled in areas of aviation, economy and sports among others. For his peers, with his versatile experience across domains, Arora illustrates the ability of IAS officers to seamlessly move from one sphere to another.
Back in his home State, Arora was one of the most trusted officers of Vasundhara Raje during her earlier term as Rajasthan Chief Minister. He was her principal secretary from 2005 to 2008.