Election Commissioner Arun Goyal resigned from his post on Saturday.
He has taken this step at a time when the possible announcement of Lok Sabha elections 2024 is going to be made in a few days.
According to a Law Ministry notification, Goyal’s resignation was accepted by President Draupadi Murmu on Saturday, with effect from today.
However, Goyal’s tenure was till December 2027. It was not immediately known why Goyal resigned. In such a situation, discussions regarding his resignation have become heated.
Know who is Arun Goyal?
, Arun Goyal took charge as Election Commissioner on November 21, 2022.
, Arun Goyal is a 1985 batch IAS officer. He has worked as Secretary in the Ministry of Heavy Industries.
, Arun Goyal was the Vice Chairman of Delhi Development Authority. He has been Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor in the Ministry of Labor and Employment. He was also Joint Secretary in the Revenue Department of the Finance Ministry.
, He took retirement before his appointment as Election Commissioner in the year 2022. He has also worked in the Union Ministry of Culture.
, At present the Chief Election Commissioner is Rajiv Kumar whose tenure will end in February 2025. After this, Arun Goyal was in line to become the next Chief Election Commissioner of the country. It is known that one can work on the post of Election Commissioner or CEC for 6 years or till the age of 65 years.
, It also needs to be noted that the appointment of Arun Goyal as Election Commissioner was challenged in the Supreme Court in 2022.
, In March 2023, the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court had made important comments on this matter. The bench said that not only was Arun Goyal appointed in a hurry by the government, but his tenure would be a little more than 2 years.
, The Supreme Court had said in its decision that the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners will be appointed by the President on the recommendation of a committee consisting of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice, so that the sanctity of the elections is maintained.
Goyal’s resignation worrying for democracy: Congress
At the same time, Congress has described the resignation of Election Commissioner Arun Goyal as worrying for Indian democracy. The party said that clarification should be given regarding this incident.
Party’s organization general secretary KC Venugopal said that transparency should be ensured in the functioning of the Election Commission.
Venugopal posted on X, ‘It is a matter of great concern for the health of the world’s largest democracy that Election Commissioner Arun Goyal has resigned just before the Lok Sabha elections.
How is a constitutional body like the Election Commission working? There is no transparency in this at all. He accused the government of putting pressure on the Election Commission.