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Alongside, the next level of senior officials at ECI, deputy election commissioners (DECs), also saw significant reshuffling during the same period. This is probably the highest number of CEO transfers in such a short span - 20 months since chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar took charge in February 2025.
His predecessor, Rajiv Kumar, effected about 23 CEO transfers over 33 months, between May 2022 and February 2025. That period also included the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Before that, during the 41-month tenure of CECs Sunil Arora and Sushil Chandra, about 29 CEO transfers took place, as per data seen by ET. That cycle also included a Lok Sabha election, which often triggered transfers of CEOs.
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The 2025-26 transfer cycle, however, has been rather busy.
Factor this: CEOs in eight to nine states and UTs were replaced in 2025, followed by at least 10 more transfers so far in 2026. While ECI conventionally retains a CEO for at least three years for continuity, at least seven of the transferred CEOs served less than two years in the post, data showed.
The first CEO transfer was ordered in Bihar, the first state to undergo SIR in June 2025. Vinod Singh Gunjiyal took over from HR Srinivasa in April 2025. May 2025 saw a CEO shift in Nagaland and Chhattisgarh while June 2025 brought new CEOs to Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana. Three more states saw changes the following month.
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In July 2025, new CEOs were appointed to oversee electoral affairs in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. August saw Manipur and Ladakh get new CEOs, while the year ended with a transfer order for the CEO of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, just days ahead of SIR 2.0.
Lakshadweep, in fact, presents a unique case, with three different individuals serving as CEOs between November 2025 and October 2026. Gaurav Singh Rajawat, who had overseen the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as CEO, was transferred out in November 2025, and Awanish Kumar took over in January 2026. However, Kumar remained in the post only until July, after which AS Sivakumar was appointed as the CEO in the UT.
The reshuffle continued in 2026, with a new CEO appointed in Punjab in January. The national capital, Delhi, which is awaiting SIR, saw its CEO, R Alice Vaz, moved out in February after completing substantial preparatory work for the exercise. Gujarat also got a new CEO in the same month. Sikkim saw a change in March, followed by Chandigarh in April.
The next three CEO transfers came in states that had just concluded assembly elections. Two of these appointments were, in fact, debatable. West Bengal CEO Manoj Agarwal was appointed chief secretary of the state following the assembly elections, with Neelam Mani subsequently taking over as CEO.
In August, D Sajith Babu replaced Rathan U Kelkar as Kerala CEO. Kelkar was also controversially appointed secretary to chief minister VD Satheesan following the assembly elections.
Nirvachan Sadan, meanwhile, saw at least four major changes at the deputy election commissioner level. These include the appointment of Bhanu Prakash Yeturu in May 2025, followed by Pawan Kumar Sharma in September 2025 and the latest entry of Prakash Rajpurohit in October 2026, following the sudden repatriation of DEC Sanjay Kumar in August 2026.