Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has to appoint the state election commissioner SEC) this month. The tenure of present SEC BP Singh cannot be extended after December. Singh’s tenure will end on December 31 or before that if someone is appointed in his place. The tenure of Singh ended on June 30.
Because the state government did not appoint anyone in his place, his tenure was extended for six months. When the then chief secretary Veera Rana retired on September 30, there were speculations that she would be appointed next SEC.
This was the reason why Singh bade farewell on September 30 even before an order was issued. Since the state government did not issue any order, Singh is still holding the office of the SEC. The tenure of an SEC can be extended only for six months after retirement. Now that Singh is about to retire, the government has to think to appoint someone in his place. Other than Rana, Additional Chief Secretary SN Mishra is one of the aspirants for the post of SEC. Mishra will retire in January.
The government is mulling over his name for the post. Besides Mishra, there are other candidates like Malay Shrivastava, Sanjay Bandyopadhyay and Ashish Upadhyay. According to sources, the government may interact with the RSS functionaries before appointing anyone to the post.
