Election Commissioner Arun Goel resigns as Lok Sabha polls approach

NEW DELHI — Election Commissioner Arun Goel resigned on Saturday, days before the expected announcement of the schedule for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

His tenure was till December 2027.

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.