In a dramatic development Election Commissioner Arun Goel resigned dramatically , days before the expected announcement of the schedule for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
His tenure was till December 2027.
President accepts the resignation tendered by Arun Goel, Election Commissioner with effect from the 9th March 2024: Ministry of Law & Justice pic.twitter.com/88tuyXm4uP
— ANI (@ANI) March 9, 2024
According to a law ministry notification, Goel’s resignation has been accepted by President Droupadi Murmu with effect from Saturday.
It was not immediately known why he stepped down.
Goel, a retired bureaucrat, was a 1985-batch IAS officer of the Punjab cadre.
He had joined the Election Commission in November 2022.
Following the retirement of Anup Pandey in February and Goel’s resignation, the three-member EC panel has now only Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar.
Reacting Arun Goel’s resignation Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge tweeted on X, Election Commission or Election OMISSION?
India now has only ONE Election Commissioner, even as Lok Sabha elections are to be announced in few days. Why?
As I have said earlier, if we do NOT stop the systematic decimation of our independent institutions, our DEMOCRACY shall be usurped by DICTATORSHIP !
ECI will now be among the last Constitutional institutions to fall.
Election Commission or Election OMISSION?
India now has only ONE Election Commissioner, even as Lok Sabha elections are to be announced in few days. Why?
As I have said earlier, if we do NOT stop the systematic decimation of our independent institutions, our DEMOCRACY shall…
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) March 9, 2024
Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP, Priyanka Chaturvedi tweeted
As blatant as it gets.
Entirely Compromised Institution. https://t.co/mqTfWC8Wy1— Priyanka Chaturvedi🇮🇳 (@priyankac19) March 9, 2024
K C Venugopal, Congress General Secretary
It is deeply concerning for the health of the world’s largest democracy that Election Commissioner Mr. Arun Goel has resigned on the cusp of the Lok Sabha elections.
There is absolutely no transparency in how a constitutional institution like the ECI has been functioning and the…
— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) March 9, 2024
