The Hindu : Front Page : Gopalaswami retires, Chawla to take charge today

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Tuesday, Apr 21, 2009
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Gopalaswami retires, Chawla to take charge today

J. Balaji

Outgoing CEC expresses confidence that Commission will stand up to its name

— PHOTO: V. SUDERSHAN

BIDS ADIEU: Outgoing Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami with Chief Election Commissioner-designate Navin Chawla (left) and Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi (right) in New Delhi on Monday.

NEW DELHI: Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami laid down the office of the constitutional post at Nirvachan Sadan, headquarters of the Election Commission of India here, on Monday. He held the post for about 34 months. A 1966 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre, he became an Election Commissioner in Jan. 2004.

Mr. Gopalaswami was given a warm send-off by senior-most Election Commissioner Navin B. Chawla, who will take over as the CEC on Tuesday, Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi and senior officials/staff of the Commission.

V.S. Sampath will also become an Election Commissioner on Tuesday in the vacancy caused by Mr. Gopalaswami’s retirement.

Mr. Gopalaswami wished Mr. Chawla “a very bright tenure as the [new] CEC” and successful completion of the 2009 general elections, in which four more phases of the five are due. He was confident that the Commission would stand up to its name and make its mark again in the country’s electoral history.

Mr. Chawla, who will become the 16th CEC, is a 1969 batch IAS officer of Delhi cadre. He was appointed Election Commissioner on May 13, 2005. He will hold the office till July 29, 2010. Starting his career as a sub-divisional magistrate in Delhi in 1971, Mr. Chawla held important posts, including Secretary to the Lt. Governor of Delhi, and also served in Lakshadweep, Puducherry and as the UPSC Secretary. He was Information and Broadcasting Secretary before being appointed an Election Commissioner.

Mr. Sampath, a native of Vellore in Tamil Nadu, was born on January 16, 1950. He is a 1973 batch IAS officer from Andhra Pradesh cadre. His first posting was as Assistant Collector in Land Revenue Management and district administration in the Andhra Pradesh government in 1975. He rose up to the level of Principal Secretary (Finance) in that government before moving to the Central services in December 2004, where he held several posts, including Secretary of Chemicals and Fertilizers. He will have tenure till January 2015.

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