New Delhi, January 21:  The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday appointed Om Prakash Rawat as the new Chief Election Commissioner with effect from January 23, 2018. According to a notice issued by the Law Ministry, Rawat will replace incumbent Achal Kumar Joti whose term ends on Monday i.e. January 22, 2018.

Rawat, the 64-year-old who will succeed Joti has been an IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre of 1977 batch. Rawat, who will be the 22nd Chief Election Commissioner of India is believed to oversee eight state elections and elections to over 50 Rajya Sabha seats.

Here's all you need to know about the new CEC:

  1. Om Prakash Rawat, in adherence to the rule, has been appointed as the 22nd CEC by President Ram Nath Kovind on the recommendation of central government. Rawat will replace incumbent Achal Kumar Joti on January 23.

  2. Born on December 2, 1953, Rawat has a Masters degree in Physics from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.

  3. Rawat was appointed to the Election Commission in August 2015. The 64-year-old has held several important portfolios at Centre and state level during his long career.

  4. During his over the three-decade-long career, Rawat has served at various levels, both at state and Centre.

  5. Rawat had earlier served as a director in the defence ministry in 1993. During this tenure, he was deputed to South Africa in May, 1994, as United Nations election observer to oversee first post-apartheid elections in the country.

  6. Besides serving in Defence and Heavy Industries ministries, Rawat had also been Principal Secretary to then Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Babu Lal Gaur from 2004 and 2006.

  7. Rawat has also received the Prime Minister’s award in 2010 for excellence in Public Administration for his initiative “recognition of forest rights”.

Also, the President also appointed ex-finance secretary Ashok Lavasa as the Election Commissioner. Lavasa, a 1980-batch IAS officer of the Haryana cadre, will fill the sole vacancy in the three-member ECI created with Rawat’s appointment.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 21, 2018 09:05 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).