Gyanesh Kumar, who served as election commissioner since March 2024, was officially appointed as chief election commissioner (CEC), on 17 January 2025. This maintains the convention of the seniormost election commissioner being elevated to the top post. However, for the first time, this convention was adhered to with the formal approval of the selection committee comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. Vivek Joshi, a 1989-batch IAS officer currently posted as Haryana chief secretary, has been appointed as election commissioner, restoring the EC’s strength to a three-member body following the retirement of Rajiv Kumar. 

Rajiv Kumar, a retired 1988 batch IAS officer, was allocated to the Kerala cadre, and has served several key positions in his home cadre and at the Centre. He retired in January last year as Secretary of the Ministry of Cooperation. He was an Additional Secretary in charge of the J&K division in the Home Ministry when Article 370 was nullified in the erstwhile state. In his farewell address, CEC Shri Rajiv Kumar thanked the 15 million polling officials for their dedication to uphold democratic values. He asserted that the trust of close to nearly a billion voters is unfazed by motivated and uncorroborated attacks on India’s democratic institutions. As a proponent of technology, Shri Kumar outlined a path for strengthening conduct of elections while guarding against the threats of cyber-attacks and misinformation on social media. He lauded the voters for their vibrant participation especially women voters and said that the electoral process is marching towards more inclusivity.Joshi, going purely by the seniority principle, will be CEC after Gyanesh Kumar retires on January 27, 2029. 

This convention marks the first instance since the enactment of the CEC and Other ECs (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, that a CEC has been appointed by a collegium or selection committee. Both Rajiv Kumar and Dr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu was appointed as election commissioners in March last year, by the selection committee as proposed by the law.

The legislation followed the direction of the Supreme Court to the government in March 2023 to set up a committee comprising the Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India, and LoP in the Lok Sabha as members until the Parliament enacted a law providing for a collegium process for the appointment of the CEC and election commissioners.