The Central government on Monday approved the appointment of Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Sandeep Saxena as Deputy Election Commissioner in the Election Commission of India.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved his appointment as DEC, at the joint secretary level, from the date of assumption of the charge of the post for a period of five years or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
The order of approval has been posted on the website of the Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.
According to sources, the EC would now write to the Tamil Nadu government asking him to be relieved at the earliest so that he could take up the job at its headquarters. The EC would also issue a separate notification after which the State government would forward a panel of three names to the commission. “These are two separate things,” said an EC official in New Delhi, implying that Mr. Saxena could assume the job as DEC even before the next CEO takes charge here.
In the meantime, the Election Commission, in consultation with the State government, would appoint the next CEO who would have the tough and arduous task of conducting of 2016 Assembly elections in the State where the “cash for vote” culture has taken deep roots.
While IAS officers native to Tamil Nadu such as T.N. Seshan, T.S. Krishnamurthy and N. Goplaswami had served with distinction as Chief Election Commissioners, it is rare for a serving IAS officer from the State cadre to take up as deputy election commissioner, sources said.
Mr. Saxena, a 1989 batch officer, had served as CEO for a year and had conducted the by-polls in Srirangam in February 2015 after a Bangalore special court convicted the then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in the disproportionate assets case.
He conducted the by-poll in the R.K. Nagar constituency in Chennai in June in which Ms. Jayalalithaa, after her acquittal by Karnataka High Court, won by a huge margin.
