Om Prakash Rawat appointed new Chief Election Commissioner

New Delhi: Election Commissioner Om Prakash Rawat was on Sunday appointed as the Chief Election Commissioner by President Ram Nath Kovind, succeeding Achal Kumar Joti, an official statement said.

Kovind also appointed former Union Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa as an Election Commissioner.

Rawat will take the charge on Tuesday after Joti demits office on Monday.

A 1977-batch IAS officer from the Madhya Pradesh cadre who had been serving as Union Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Secretary when he retired in 2013, Rawat was appointed as Election Commissioner in August 2015.

Lavasa will also take charge on Tuesday, joining Election Commissioner Sunil Arora, a 1980-batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre and former Information and Broadcasting Secretary, who was appointed in September 2017.