Gyanesh Kumar
Gyanesh Kumar | |
|---|---|
 Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar at India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management in 2025 | |
| Chief Election Commissioner of India | |
| Assumed office 19 February 2025 | |
| Appointed by | Droupadi Murmu |
| Preceded by | Rajiv Kumar |
| Election Commissioner of India | |
| In office 14 March 2024 – 18 February 2025 Serving with Sukhbir Singh Sandhu | |
| Chief Election Commissioner | Rajiv Kumar |
| Preceded by | Anup Chandra Pandey |
| Succeeded by | Vivek Joshi |
| Cooperation Secretary of India | |
| In office 3 May 2022 – 31 January 2024 | |
| Minister | Amit Shah |
| Preceded by | Devendra Kumar Singh |
| Succeeded by | Ashish Kumar Bhutani |
| Parliamentary Affairs Secretary of India | |
| In office 1 May 2021 – 2 May 2022 | |
| Minister | Prahlad Joshi |
| Preceded by | R. S. Shukla |
| Succeeded by | Gudey Srinivas |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 27 January 1964 Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India |
| Alma mater | |
Gyanesh Kumar (born 27 January 1964) is the current chief election commissioner of India, and the first to be appointed under the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023.[1][2] He has previously served as an election commissioner and as an IAS officer.[3] He came under scrutiny during the 2025 Indian electoral controversy, where the Election Commission of India (ECI) was accused of collusion with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and of having engaged in electoral fraud in the 2024 Indian general election.
Early life and education
Gyanesh Kumar was born on 27 January 1964 in Agra, Uttar Pradesh. He completed a BTech at IIT Kanpur. Following his graduating, Kumar pursued Business Finance at the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India, before studying Environmental Economics at Harvard University.[4][5]
Career
Kumar served as Joint Secretary to the Government of India in the Department of Defence Production at the Ministry of Defence from 2007 to 2012.[6] He later served as Joint Secretary to the Government of India in Ministry of Home Affairs from 2016 to 2018 and then as Additional Secretary to the Government of India from 2018 to 2021.
He was later served as Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Ministry of Co-operation.[7] During his tenure, the Co-operation Ministry[8] saw the enactment of the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) (Amendment) Act, 2023,[9] and formation of three new national cooperative bodies, those being the Bharatiya Beej Sahakari Samiti Limited (BBSSL), National Cooperative Organics Limited (NCOL), and National Cooperative Export Limited (NCEL).[10] On 19 February 2025, Kumar was appointed as the new Chief Election Commissioner of India.[11]
2025 Indian electoral controversy
In August 2025, Kumar became a focal point of the 2025 Indian electoral controversy, wherein Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Indian National Congress (often simply known as "the Congress"), alleged widespread electoral fraud in the 2024 Indian general election and the collusion of the ECI with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), leading to protests.[12] Gandhi stated that votes had been "stolen" in Karnataka’s Mahadevapura Assembly constituency through five separate ways, those being 11,965 duplicate voters, 40,009 voters with fake and invalid addresses, 10,452 bulk voters or single address voters, 4,132 voters with invalid photos, and 33,692 voters misusing Form 6, which is used for the registration of new voters.[13] Kumar has been widely criticised by opposition parties and leaders, of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) coalition of failing to adequately respond to the allegations and of mimicking BJP rhetoric. In reaction, Kumar has criticised the opposition of "spreading misinformation".[14]
Kumar also refused to provide machine-readable voter lists and CCTV footage of polling, citing "voter privacy concerns", instead repeatedly demanding that the opposition submit signed affidavits. However, when asked about Anurag Thakur, a BJP Member of Parliament who had made similar allegations of electoral fraud against the Congress—but against whom the ECI had remained silent and who was not asked to submit any affidavits—Kumar did not respond.[15]
During a parliamentary session on 18 August 2025, the INDIA bloc publicly acknowledged that it was considering a motion of impeachment against Kumar.[14]
References
- ^ "Gyanesh Kumar to take over as Chief Election Commissioner on February 19; Supreme Court to hear plea against law under which he was appointed". The Hindu. 18 February 2025. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
- ^ "Gyanesh Kumar appointed 26th Chief Election Commissioner". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
- ^ "Gyanesh Kumar Appointed New Chief Election Commissioner". www.ndtv.com. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
- ^ "Who is Gyanesh Kumar, the newly-appointed Election Commissioner ?". Livemint. 14 March 2024. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ "IIT Kanpur, Roorkee, Harvard University: Educational qualifications of Gyanesh Kumar & Vivek Joshi". The Indian Express. 18 February 2025. Archived from the original on 19 February 2025.
- ^ "Who is Gyanesh Kumar, the Election Commissioner picked by PM Modi-led panel". The Indian Express. 14 March 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
- ^ "Who is Gyanesh Kumar, the newly appointed election commissioner". The Times of India. 14 March 2024. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ "5 Points About Gyanesh Kumar, New Election Commissioner". NDTV. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ PTI (23 October 2023). "Cooperative export body NCEL gets ₹7,000 crore orders so far, to share profit with member farmers: Amit Shah". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ "Who Are Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, The Retired IAS Officers Appointed As Election Commissioners?". Outlook India. 15 March 2024. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ "Gyanesh Kumar Appointed as India's New Chief Election Commissioner". Bru Times News.
- ^ "Congress has 'atom bomb' of evidence on vote theft and when it explodes, EC wont have a place to hide, says Rahul Gandhi". The Hindu. 1 August 2025. Archived from the original on 1 August 2025.
- ^ Dasgupta, Sravasti (7 August 2025). "'Elections Choreographed, Huge Criminal Fraud by Election Commission': Rahul Gandhi". The Wire (India). Archived from the original on 27 September 2025.
- ^ a b K. Nair, Sobhana (18 August 2025). "INDIA bloc considering motion to remove CEC Gyanesh Kumar". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 18 August 2025.
- ^ Chakrabarty, Sreeparna (17 August 2025). "File affidavit in seven days or apologise: ECI ultimatum on Rahul Gandhi's Karnataka vote theft". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 11 September 2025.