Election Commissioner Arun Goyal has resigned just before the announcement of Lok Sabha elections.
His tenure was till December 2027. The reason why he has resigned from the post is not yet clear.
According to the notification issued by the Union Law and Justice Ministry, President Draupadi Murmu has accepted his resignation with immediate effect on Saturday.
After Goyal’s resignation, now only the Chief Election Commissioner is left in the Election Commission of India. Now the posts of two Election Commissioners have become vacant in the Commission.
One post in the commission was vacant due to the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey last month. Goyal, a retired bureaucrat, was a 1985 batch IAS officer of Punjab cadre.
He was appointed Election Commissioner in November 2022. After the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey and resignation of Goyal last month i.e. in February, now only Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar is in the three-member ECI panel.
No impact on Lok Sabha elections
If sources are to be believed, the resignation of Election Commissioner Arun Goyal will not make any difference to the announcement of Lok Sabha elections.
Experts say that both the posts of Election Commissioner of ECI have already become vacant, but this will not affect the announcement of elections.
In response to a question, he said that there is no need to formally meet any quorum to take any decision in the Commission.
The responsibility of elections lies only with the Chief Election Commissioner.
After the sudden resignation of Election Commissioner Arun Goyal from his post, the responsibility of conducting Lok Sabha elections has now fallen on the shoulders of Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar.
Earlier, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioner Arun Goyal were visiting various states regarding the preparations for the Lok Sabha elections and issuing guidelines for smoothly conducting the elections.
Controversy over Goyal’s appointment
There was a controversy regarding the appointment of Arun Goyal to the post of Election Commissioner and the matter even reached the Supreme Court. Goyal, a 1985 batch IAS officer, took voluntary retirement on November 18, 2022 and was appointed Election Commissioner the very next day.
His appointment was also challenged in the Supreme Court. During the hearing, the Supreme Court had raised questions on the haste in his appointment to this post. However, he later refused to intervene.
Goyal second officer to resign from post
While holding the post of Election Commissioner, Arun Goyal did not have any differences of any kind with the government or the Chief Election Commissioner. Arun Goyal is the second Election Commissioner in the last four years to resign from his post.
Earlier, Ashok Lavasa had resigned from the post of Election Commissioner. While holding the post of Election Commissioner, there were daily reports of differences of opinion between the Chief Election Commissioner of Lavasa and his fellow Election Commissioner.
In August 2020, Ashok Lavasa resigned from the post of Election Commissioner. After this he was appointed to the post of Vice President of Asian Development Bank.