Election Commissioner (EC) Ashok Lavasa, who was expected to take over the poll body next year, tendered his resignation to President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday, officials close to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer told HT.
The 1980-batch Haryana cadre IAS officer had almost two years remaining in his tenure as EC . He would have taken over as the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) from Sunil Arora.
However, his exit puts EC Sushil Chandra in the fray for the poll watchdog’s top job.
Lavasa had had several stints in various government departments, including as secretary in the Union finance ministry. As CEC, Lavasa would have overseen elections in West Bengal, Manipur, Goa, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
Lavasa didn’t indicate when he’d for Manila, where he is slated to join the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in September.
ADB authorities had announced on July 15 that Lavasa has been appointed as the vice-president for private sector operations and public-private partnerships (PPP).
“Mr. Lavasa has a long and distinguished career in the Indian civil service. He is currently one of the Election Commissioners of India and previously served in a range of senior posts including as Union Finance Secretary of India; Union Secretary for the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change; and Union Secretary for the Ministry of Civil Aviation. He has extensive experience in public-private partnerships and infrastructure development at the state and federal levels, with deep knowledge of public policy and the role of the private sector,” ADD said in a press release issued on Wednesday.
Earlier, EC officials close to Lavasa had told HT that would take up the job.
“It is a prestigious assignment and he was happy to be considered,” said an official on condition of anonymity.
A former poll official said the last time an EC quit was in 1973, when Nagendra Singh, the then CEC resigned to join the International Court of Justice in the Hague, the Netherlands.
Singh served with the then President of India before he took over the poll body.
Lavasa was one of the key dissenters, when the poll body took a call on whether or not to give a “clean chit” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah for speeches violating the model code conduct ahead of the last year’s Lok Sabha elections.
Lavasa had dissented on three points against PM Modi such as for asking for votes in the name of Balakot strike, for saying that former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had found a “minority seat” in Wayanad to contest from and that “new India gave a fitting reply to Pakistan”.
He was the sole dissenter in the three-member poll body to object to the speeches.
Lavasa’s family, including his wife Noel Lavasa, were subsequently under the scanner of the Income Tax Department for alleged discrepancies. The department also surveyed Nourish Organic Foods, where Lavasa’s son is a director.
