Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on March 16 said that “dissent” was encouraged in the poll panel, after reports suggested that the sudden resignation of former Election Commissioner Arun Goel had been due to differences with him.
“We have a sound tradition - dissent within commission is encouraged; because it is such a complicated exercise, three minds are better than one. We sleep over issues, we take time, we assimilate. Those who can challenge you should be kept close...,” Mr. Kumar said at a press conference to announce the schedule for the Lok Sabha polls.
Mr. Goel, whose tenure had been till December 2027, resigned on March 9.
Replying to a question on the resignation, the CEC said: “Mr. Arun was a very very distinguished member of our team, I thoroughly enjoyed working with him. But in every institution, someone will have to be given the personal space, and I am sure personal space should not touched; one should not be insensitive to ask personal questions.”
“We must respect if he had personal reasons to quit,” he added.
Mr. Goel had quit shortly after the Election Commission’s visit to West Bengal to check the poll preparedness.
Former bureaucrats Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu were on Thursday appointed as election commissioners and took charge on Friday.
