Rajiv Kumar, the senior-most member of the Election Commission, on Sunday took charge as the 25th Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of the country.
Kumar has been serving in ECI as Election Commissioner since September 1, 2020. During his tenure as Election Commissioner, elections have been held for State Assemblies of Bihar in 2020, Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal amidst Covid concerns in March-April 2021, and also elections to Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh recently in early 2022.
After assuming charge as CEC, Rajiv Kumar said that he is honoured to have been given the responsibility to lead one of the finest institutions gifted by the Indian Constitution – the institution that reinforces our democracy.
He stated that a lot has been done during the last seventy years by ECI to give our citizens free and fair elections, ensure the purity of the electoral rolls, prevent malpractices and enhance the quality of our elections.
“The Commission will follow the time-tested and democratic methods of consultations and consensus building in bringing about any major reforms for dynamically evolving to changing contexts. And in matters for which it is responsible under the Constitution, ECI will not shy away from tough decisions,” he added.
Kumar also said that technology will further be made the major instrument for simplification of processes and practices for bringing about transparency and ease of voter services for better election management and operations.