NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu’s Chief Electoral Officer Sandeep Saxena may be moved to Delhi and inducted into 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 be posted in the Election Commission of India as Deputy Election Commissioner for which a proposal has been sent to the DOPT.
As per the procedure, the ECI will ask the state government to recommend a panel of three names, out of which a CEO will be selected. The CEO will be responsible for holding polls in the state.
Interestingly, Saxena took over as CEO of Tamil Nadu on October 27, last year.
According to the DOPT data, Saxena’s tenure in Tamil Nadu as CEO was till August 31, and his deputation to the Centre had been cleared from September 1. This would 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 the ECI considered his services owing to his expertise.