Senior-most Election Commissioner Veeravalli Sundaram Sampath was on Wednesday appointed as the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) by President Pratibha Patil. He replaces S.Y. Quraishi, who demits office on June 10.
Mr. Sampath, a 1973 batch IAS officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre, took charge as Election Commissioner on April 21, 2009. A native of Vellore in Tamil Nadu, he was born on January 16, 1950. He will carry out his term till January 16, 2015 — either for six years in the Commission or till the age of 65, whichever comes earlier.
H.S. Brahma is the other Election Commissioner.
The announcement on the appointment of an Election Commissioner is likely to be made in the next few days. Shumsher Sheriff, Secretary to the Vice President, and Delhi Chief Secretary P.K. Tripathi, both 1977 batch IAS officers of the Union Territory cadre, are in the race for the post.
Meanwhile, Mr. Quraishi paid courtesy calls to Ms. Patil and Vice President Hamid Ansari, according to sources. Post-retirement, he is planning to write a book on the election management in India, Mr. Quraishi told The Hindu .
