Retired bureaucrats Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu were on Thursday appointed as Election Commissioners by a high-powered panel chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“The President is pleased to appoint Shri Gyanesh Kumar, IAS (Retd.) and Dr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, IAS (Retd.) as Election Commissioners in Election Commission of India [EC] with effect from the date of assumption of charge of their office,” a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique said.

This is the first time that Election Commissioners have been appointed in accordance with the new Chief Election Commissioner and other Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023 brought in by the government in December last year.

According to the Act, a selection committee headed by the Prime Minister and comprising a Union Minister nominated by the Prime Minister and the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha will select members of the EC. In the current committee, Union Home Minister Amit Shah is the Cabinet Minister and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury represents the Opposition, being the Congress leader of the House in Lok Sabha.