Election Commissioner Steps Down From His Position Ahead Of General Elections

Ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Election Commissioner has stepped down from his position. His abrupt action creates a perplexed situation among people who are looking to know the reason behind this. According to the reports, Arun Goel, Election Commissioner resigned from his position on Saturday, 9th March 2024 before the expected announcement of the schedule for the 2024 General elections. The resignation of Arun Goel is officially accepted by Droupadi Murmu, the President of India. The news has been officially confirmed by a law ministry which shared a notification regarding it. The Law Ministry notification confirmed that the President of India officially accepted the resignation of Mr Goel. 

What Is The Reason Behind The Resignation Of Arun Goel? 

Ever since this news surfaced, people have been looking to know the reason for his resignation ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Sources have informed the media outlet that Mr Goel attributed his resignation to “personal reasons.” However, the government made efforts to halt his resignation but he did not want to continue to work on his position. After a long meeting, the President of India accepted his resignation and made it effective immediately. Initially, people suspected that he decided in the wake of his health condition. However, the speculation regarding the health concerns was swiftly rejected. 

The speculation of his health concern has been debunked by the top officials who state that the health condition of Mr Goel was perfect. In addition to this, Election Commission sources added that there have been differences on the file between the formal Election Commission and current Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar. It is worth noting that the Election Commission of India consists of 3 members and as of now only Rajiv Kumar is working on the poll panel, the rest of the two positions are still vacant. 

Mr Goel, a retired bureaucrat, a 1985-batch IAS officer of the Punjab cadre hired as the Election Commissioner in November 2022. As per sources, the Lok Sabha election dates are likely to be declared by the next week. However, the unexpected departure of Mr Goel has cast doubt on the previously expected timeline. General elections are expected to be held in India between April and May 2024 to elect 543 members of the Lok Sabha. 

Now, after the resignation of Mr Goel, people want to know what will happen next. The sources are stating that the appointment process for a new Election Commissioner has been started. The appointment process for the vacant seat involves a search committee, directed by the law minister along with two union secretaries. As of now, 5 names have been shortlisted. Meanwhile, a selection committee led by the Prime Minister of India, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, or the leader of the single-largest opposition party, chooses the final candidate. After completing the entire process, the President formally hires the selected CEC or EC. 

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Apart from that, it is assumed that the resignation of Mr Goel was the enactment of a new law that came into effect last year, transforming the process of hiring the top election officers of the country. Under the revised procedure, the Chief Justice Of India was kept out of the selection process.