NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu’s chief electoral officer Sandeep Saxena may be moved to Delhi and inducted in the Election Commission of India.
Sources said that Saxena, a 1989-batch TN cadre officer, will continue as the chief electoral officer (CEO) till his replacement is found in consultation with the state government. Saxena would incorporated in Election Commission of India as Deputy Election Commissioner, as some of the posts are vacant. The proposal has been sent to the DOPT.
As per the procedure, ECI asks the state government to recommend a panel of three names, out of which CEO is selected. The CEO is responsible for conducting elections in the state.
Interestingly, Saxena had joined as Tamil Nadu CEO on October 27, last year.
According to the DOPT data on civil servants, Saxena’s tenure in Tamil Nadu as CEO was till August 31, and his deputation to the centre had been cleared from September 1 onwards. This will be the first central deputation for the 48-year-old officer who hails from Madhya Pradesh.
Opposition parties in Tamil Nadu had been demanding Saxena’s removal owing to the “bias”. But ECI considered his services owing to his expertise.
Saxena is a graduate in civil engineering, and had even done his Mtech.