Gyanesh Kumar is a 1988 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre while Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, also from the 1988 batch is from Uttarakhand cadre.
After the meeting of the selection committee to pick the Election Commissioner, the Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, “In this committee, the government has the majority….One Mr Kumar from Kerala and one Mr B. Sandhu from Punjab have been selected as Election Commissioners.”
Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Sukhbir Singh Sandhu was to retire this month. Senior IAS officer Gyanesh Kumar worked as a secretary at the ministry of cooperation.
Mr Chowdhury was part of the panel chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to select two Election Commissioners to assist Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar as the poll body prepares for the upcoming Lok Sabha election. Besides the Prime Minister and Mr Chowdhury, Union Home Minister Amit Shah attended the meeting.