HS Brahma takes office as Chief Election Commissioner

New Delhi: Hari Shankar Brahma, who today took over as the 19th Chief Election Commissioner, said his priority and “mission objective” is to ensure free and fair conduct of Delhi Assembly polls.

“My first priority and mission objective is to ensure that we conduct the election to Delhi Legislative Assembly in an absolutely free and fair manner...the world is watching us as to what we are doing in Delhi,” he said after assuming charge at Nirvachan Sadan here.

Brahma, who took over from V S Sampath after he demitted office yesterday, said the long-term goal at the Election Commission is to deliver excellence.  “In other words, every aspects of our activity, we shall try to exhibit excellence in our work in every field,” he said.

Outlining his priorities, the CEC said it will be his personal endeavour to use the latest technologies to improve the quality of election management.  He said on National Voters' Day on January 25, the EC will launch nationwide Electronic Roll Management System (ERMS), which will provide country-wide voters' list and enable the electorate to see their details.

He said the Commission will prepare the ground work for extending voting rights to NRI voters following Supreme Court directions.

A 1975-batch IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre, Brahma (64), who hails from Assam, will have a tenure of slightly over three months till April 19 when he turns 65, the upper age limit for the post under the Constitution.  Brahma was the Union Power Secretary before his induction into the Election Commission. He assumed charge as one of the three Election Commissioners on August 25, 2010.  

After J M Lyndogh, Brahma has become the second officer from the northeast to be appointed to this post.  The government will now set in motion the process to appoint an Election Commissioner to fill a vacancy in the three-member body.