Sunil Arora, 62, a retired 1980-batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, took over as Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) on Sunday.
Mr. Arora sought the cooperation of political parties and people to make elections “totally free, fair and ethical.”
He succeeded O.P. Rawat who demitted office on Saturday.
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The Lok Sabha election, which is due next year, will be conducted the Election Commission under Mr. Arora.
He will also hold elections to the Assemblies of Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand, Delhi, Bihar and Jammu & Kashmir. He will be in office till April 12, 2021.
Mr. Arora retired in April 2016 as Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting.
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During his 36 years of service, he held various crucial positions in Rajasthan and at the Centre.
He served in several key positions, including as Secretary in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship; Chairman & Managing Director of the then Indian Airlines between 2002 and 2005; member of the Board of Directors of Air India (AI), the Airports Authority of India Limited (AAI), and the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC).
Mr. Arora also served as Chairman of the Rajasthan State Industrial Development & Investment Corporation in 2005-2013, and as Additional Chief Secretary (Home) of the State government in 2013-2014.
After assuming charge, Mr. Arora said: “All of us in the Commission shall continue to put our best foot forward to meet the expectations of all the stakeholders, strictly in consonance and in conformity with the vision and ideals of the Constitution of India, especially the Preamble thereof.”
He said internal preparations for the Lok Sabha elections had begun sometime back.
“We will try to meticulously prepare on all fronts, whether it is the Electoral Roll, EVM (Electronic Voting Machine), VVPATs (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) disseminations through our very credible programme of SVEEP (Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation), ensuring voting rights through electronically transmitted postal ballot system for our soldiers, for persons with disabilities, and give the country a fair, credible, free, impartial and ethical election,” said Mr. Arora.
He said the committee appointed to review various facets of Section126 [which bars publication of election-related matter in the last 48 hours leading to polls] of the Representation of the People Act would submit the final report for the perusal and consideration of the Commission by December 30.