The government today appointed Navin Chawla as the next Chief Election Commissioner. He will take charge from N Gopalaswami on April 20.
The decks had been cleared for his appointment with the government on Sunday rejecting Gopalaswami’s proposal to remove Chawla for his alleged political “leanings and biases”.
Chawla, a 1969 batch IAS officer, will hold the office of CEC till July 29, 2010. His appointment was announced by the Rashtrapati Bhawan here today.
Interestingly, Chawla will take charge in the midst of the Lok Sabha elections, scheduled to be held between April 16 and May 13. Both Chawla and Gopalaswami are currently touring Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to oversee arrangements for the Lok Sabha elections.