Many questions are being raised due to the resignation of Election Commissioner Arun Goyal just before the Lok Sabha elections.
He still had three years of tenure left. The reason for his resignation is not clear yet. Goyal’s resignation also comes at a time when the three-member panel of the Election Commission was functioning with only two members.
Election Commissioner Anoop Chandra Pandey had retired in February itself. In such a situation, there is now only one Election Commissioner in the Election Commission of India. Now only Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar is left in this panel.
Who is Arun Goyal?
Arun Goyal is a former IAS officer. He was appointed to the post of Election Commissioner in November 2022. Many questions were also raised on his appointment.
Actually he had taken voluntary retirement from administrative service. At that time he used to be the Secretary in the Heavy Industries Department. He was made the Election Commissioner just a day after his retirement.
Arun Goyal was born on 7 December 1962 in Patiala. He was a 1985 batch IAS officer of Punjab cadre. Goyal is a graduate in Development Economics from Cambridge University.
Apart from this, he has also studied at Harvard University. While in the Ministry of Heavy Industries, Goyal did a lot of work for e-wheelers in India. He started the Production Linked Incentive Scheme.
He has also worked as Returning Officer in Ludhiana and Bathinda districts. While being the Principal Secretary of Punjab, he had prepared the master plan for New Chandigarh and many other cities.
There was controversy after joining the Election Commission in 2022. The matter had reached the Supreme Court. Questions were raised on the haste in his appointment. However, the Supreme Court refused to interfere in this.
Let us tell you that while being in the Election Commission, he was not involved in any kind of controversy. Talking about the Lok Sabha elections, it is being said that Arun Goyal’s resignation will not make any difference to the Lok Sabha elections.
However, now the responsibility of elections has fallen on the shoulders of Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar.