V S Sampath assumes office as 18th Chief Election Commissioner of India

V Sundaram Sampath has taken over the post  as the 18th  Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of  the Country

Sampath joined the Election Commission of India as election commissioner in April 2009. He succeeds S.Y. Quraishi as the CEC.

Talking to media persons about his priorities, Sampath said he would work towards electoral reforms.An announcement regarding the Presidential election schedule is due shortly,he added.

An Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the 1973 batch Andhra Cadre, Sampath has held important positions in the government of Andhra Pradesh and at the central government.

He was an Election Commissioner from 21 April 2009 after serving for a year as the Secretary Energy and Power, Government of India.

On 6 June 2012, President Pratibha Patil appointed Sampath to replace S. Y. Quraishi as the Chief Election Commissioner. He will serve until he reaches the retirement age of 65 on 16 January 2015.  An EC or the CEC can remain in office for six years or till he is 65, whichever is earlier. The Centre stuck to convention and appointed the seniormost election commissioner in the EC as the CEC despite LK Advani’s suggestion for a collegium to choose the CEC.

With Sampath’s appointment as CEC, H S Brahma is next in seniority in the EC. Brahma was appointed in August 2010 after Quraishi was appointed CEC in July 2010. The EC’s post lay vacant for about a month.

With a series of state Assembly polls lined up for this year and 2013, the Election Commission under him would have its hands full.Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are slated for elections later this year. Next year, Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh will witness the election for new assemblies.