HS Brahma set to be new Chief Election Commisioner

Government may be all set to appoint Election Commissioner H S Brahma as the next Chief Election Commissioner in place of V S Sampath who demits office on January 15.

If Brahma is elevated, then it will be in keeping with the convention of elevating the senior-most Election Commissioner as the CEC, a recommendation the Law Ministry had made to the government. Once it is cleared by the Prime Minister, the proposal goes to the President, who appoints the CEC as required under the Constitution.

A 1975-batch IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre, Brahma (64), who hails from Assam, will have a tenure of slightly over three months till April 19 when he turns 65, the upper age limit for the post under the Constitution. Brahma was a Power Secretary in the Centre before his induction into the Election Commission. He assumed charge as one of the three Election Commissioners on August 25, 2010.

After JM Lyndogh, Brahma will become the second officer from the northeast to be appointed to this post.