Om Prakash Rawat assumed charge as the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) on 23 January, Tuesday. He succeeds AK Joti, who demitted office on Monday after completing his tenure.
Rawat said the Commission will maintain its standard and pursue vigorously its commitment to hold free, fair, inclusive and credible elections throughout the country.
Rawat, a former Madhya Pradesh cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the 1977 batch, has served in various capacities including Secretary in the Union Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Department of Public Enterprises from April 2012 to December 2013.
He has been serving as Election Commissioner since August 2015. During his tenure as Election Commissioner, Assembly elections in Bihar, Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat were conducted successfully.
In another development, Ashok Lavasa, an IAS officer of Haryana cadre, assumed charge as the new Election Commissioner (EC) on Tuesday.
Lavasa has served in key positions including Principal Secretary and Financial Commissioner (Renewable Energy Sources, Power), Chief Coordinator (Industries), Resident Commissioner of Haryana, Managing Director of Haryana State Federation of Co-operative Sugar Hills (HSFCOSHL), Director of Haryana State Industrial Development Cooperation (HSIDC), Union Finance Secretary, Union Environment, Forests and Climate Change Secretary, Union Civil Aviation Secretary, and Special Secretary in the Ministry of Power.