Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Naresh Gupta, in the last five-and-a-half years, has addressed a number of press conferences. But, the one on Friday was special as it was his last official press conference.
Mr. Gupta, who is retiring on Saturday after 37 years of service, turned nostalgic during the conference as he talked about his various challenging assignments. While high-profile posts such as Home Secretary [which he held during 2001-2002] were stressful, he drew a lot of job satisfaction as Member-Secretary of the State Planning Commission [2002-2005], which was academic-oriented and enabled him to deal with issues such as poverty and development.
The CEO post was once a “cushy” job, said Mr. Gupta, who held it for about eight years in two spells [1998-2000 and January 2005-July 2010]. “But, no longer,” he added.
Earlier, officials of the State Election department had to work harder only at the time of elections. Times had changed.
“The 2009 Lok Sabha elections” was his reply to a question on which general elections were the most challenging. Mr. Gupta, who hails from Lucknow and holds postgraduate degrees in mathematics and Gandhian Thought, also presided over the conduct of the Lok Sabha polls in 1999 and Assembly elections in 2006.
Later in the day, the staff of the department hosted a farewell party for him. Praveen Kumar, the new CEO, also participated in the function.
