Brahma to be new CEC

Sampath will demit office today, pays farewell visit to President

H.S.Brahma. Photo: Ramesh Sharma

H.S. Brahma, the seniormost Election Commissioner, will succeed V.S. Sampath as the next Chief Election Commissioner of India.

Mr. Sampath will demit office on Thursday after turning 65.

Mr. Sampath paid a farewell visit to President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday. In just under six years in the Election Commission, first as EC then as CEC, he helped conduct two Lok Sabha elections and at least one round of Assembly elections in every State.

A 1973-batch IAS officer from the Andhra Pradesh cadre, he held several important positions in the Union government, including as Secretary, Rural Development and Power, before being appointed an Election Commissioner in March 2009.

Short term

Mr. Brahma, who hails from Assam, is also an IAS officer from the 1975 batch of the Andhra Pradesh cadre. Like Mr. Sampath, he too held the post of Power Secretary before being appointed Election Commissioner in August 2010. He will hold office for only a very short period, until he turns 65 on April 19 this year. Mr. Brahma has also held posts such as Joint Secretary (Border Management) in the Union Home Ministry. He also worked as Special Secretary & Additional Secretary in the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).