The newly appointed Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar took charge on Wednesday, replacing Rajiv Kumar, who demitted office on Tuesday, as head of the poll panel.
Vivek Singh Joshi, a former Haryana cadre IAS officer, assumed charge as an Election Commissioner.
In his message to voters after assuming charge, Kumar said, "First step for nation building is voting. Therefore, every citizen of India who has completed 18 years of age should become an elector and should always vote."
Kumar asserted that the "Election Commission was, is and will always be with the voters."
An election commissioner since March 2024, Kumar was elevated as the CEC on Monday.
Kumar is the first CEC to be appointed under a new law on the appointment of members of the Election Commission (EC) which excludes the chief justice of India (CJI) from the selection panel.
A 1988-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Kerala cadre, the 61-year-old Kumar has held several high-profile and sensitive positions throughout his career.
Before moving to the Election Commission last year as one of its commissioners, he retired as Secretary of the Ministry of Cooperation, his last role in government service. Kumar is reportedly close to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was one of the members in the selection panel which appointed him.
The Congress has slammed the "hurried" appointment of Kumar as a violation of the "basic spirit of the Constitution" and "contempt of court."
The Supreme Court is set to hear the case pertaining to the appointment of the CEC and election commissioners (EC) under the 2023 law on Wednesday.
Kumar's appointment comes ahead of crucial elections including Bihar Assembly polls later this year and elections in West Bengal, Assam, and Tamil Nadu in 2026.
(With inputs from PTI)