Om Prakash Rawat Appointed New Chief Election Commissioner, Know More About Him

Om Prakash Rawat was appointed as the new Chief Election Commissioner of India. Rawat will succeed Achal Kumar Joti who served as the CEC since 2017. Rawat will be the 22nd Chief Election Commissioner of India and will take over the charge on January 23.

A retired IAS officer, Rawat was serving as the Election Commissioner. Ashok Lavasa, a former finance secretary and an Indian Administrative Service officer of the 1980 batch, has been appointed as an Election Commissioner. Lavasa will work with Sunil Arora, the other Election Commissioner.

Who Is Om Prakash Rawat? Know More About Him

Born on December 2, 1953, Om Prakash Rawat, did his masters in Physics from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi and M.Sc in Social Development Planning from the United Kingdom. Rawat has served in key positions for both Union Government and Madhya Pradesh. He has served as the Principal Secretary (Commerce and Industries), Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Principal Secretary (Woman and Child development), Principal Secretary (Tribal Welfare), Vice Chairman of Narmada Valley Development Authority, Excise Commissioner of Madhya Pradesh, the District Magistrate and Collector of Narsinghpur and Indore districts in the Madhya Pradesh Government, the Union Public Enterprise Secretary, and as Joint Secretary in Ministry of Defence in the Union Government.

A retired 1977 Madhya Pradesh batch IAS cadre, he assumed office as one of the two Election Commissioners of India on 14 August 2015. During his tenure as the Election Commissioners of India, Rawat has monitored assembly elections in fourteen Indian states including Assam, Bihar, Kerala, Puducherry, and Tamil Nadu.

Who Is A Chief Election Commissioner?

The Chief Election Commissioner heads the Election Commission of India for a tenure of six years. He will demise the office if he turns 65 before the completion of the mandate. Election Commission of India is a body constitutionally empowered to conduct free and fair elections to the national and state legislatures. Usually, a member of the Indian Civil Service, mostly from the Indian Administrative Service is selected as the Chief Election Commissioner of the country.

Once elected by the President, it is very difficult to remove the authority of the Chief Election Commissioner. Two-thirds of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha should vote against him for disorderly conduct or improper actions.