Navin Chawla to take over as CEC on April 20

Along expected lines, the government on Wednesday appointed election commissioner Navin Chawla as the next Chief Election Commissioner, who will succeed incumbent N Gopalaswami.

Written by Political Bureau

March 5, 2009 22:10 IST

Along expected lines, the government on Wednesday appointed election commissioner Navin Chawla as the next Chief Election Commissioner, who will succeed incumbent N Gopalaswami.

A 1969-batch IAS officer, Chawla will take charge of the top post on April 20 and will hold the charge till July 29, 2010 when he attains the age of 65 years. ?President Pratibha Patil approved the appointment of Navin Chawla as the CEC with effect from April 20,? a Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson said here on Wednesday.

Chawla, the senior-most of ECs after Gopalaswami, will be taking over in the midst of the five-phased Lok Sabha elections and hence oversee four phases of the polls. The elevation of Chawla, who was appointed as EC on May 13, 2005, comes after a controversy triggered by Gopalaswami?s recommendation to the President for his removal from office for alleged ?partisan? functioning.

On Sunday last, the government rejected the recommendation saying there was no merit in the allegations levelled against Chawla. The CEC in waiting has earlier served in various capacities in the Centre.

This article was first uploaded on March five, twenty nine, at ten minutes past ten in the night.