SY Quraishi appointed new Chief Election Commissioner

NEW DELHI: Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi was on Tuesday appointed as the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) in the place of Navin Chawla, who demits office on Thursday. Mr Chawla, who took over in the middle of 2009 Lok Sabha polls, headed the Commission for a little more than a year. The government will have to appoint a new Election Commission with the elevation of Mr Quraishi. Mr V S Sampath is the other Election Commissioner.

Mr Quraishi’s first assignment as CEC will be to conduct the assembly elections in Bihar later this year. “I feel deeply honoured on being entrusted with this assignment... Election Commission of India is an institution in which the nation places a great trust. It would be my utmost endeavour to prove myself worthy of this trust,” Mr Quraishi said soon after the government announced his appointment.

Underling the “equal” stature of all the three members of the Commission, Mr Quraishi said: “In our multi-member Commission that has the principle of equality as its hallmark, any transition is marked by continuity. This has also contributed to the impartiality and absolute neutrality of the Commission at all times.” The new CEC brings with him rich experience as a thoroughbred civil servant of more than 35 years to become the first Muslim Chief Election Commissioner of India.