Election Commission transfers around 20 CEOs in 20 months amid SIR, changes seen in Nirwachan Sadan, Delhi EC: Report

At a time when lakhs of voters are navigating the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has witnessed considerable administrative churn. Nearly 18-20 chief electoral officers (CEOs) of states and Union Territories were transferred between 2025 and 2026, according to data accessed by The Economic Times.

Deputy election commissioners (DECs) were also reshuffled during the period. The CEO transfers over the 20 months since Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar took charge in February 2025 were probably the highest recorded over such a short span.

CEO transfers gather pace during SIR

Gyanesh Kumar's predecessor, Rajiv Kumar, effected about 23 CEO transfers over 33 months between May 2022 and February 2025, a period that included the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. About 29 transfers occurred during the combined 41-month tenures of CECs Sunil Arora and Sushil Chandra, which also covered a Lok Sabha election.

CEOs in eight to nine states and Union Territories were replaced in 2025, followed by at least 10 transfers in 2026. Although the ECI conventionally retains CEOs for at least three years to ensure continuity, at least seven transferred officials served for less than two years.

Bihar, the first state to undergo SIR in June 2025, saw the first transfer. Vinod Singh Gunjiyal replaced HR Srinivasa in April. Nagaland and Chhattisgarh saw changes in May, followed by Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana in June. Three more changes followed in July, including appointments in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.

Manipur and Ladakh got new CEOs in August. The year ended with a transfer order for Lakshadweep's CEO shortly before SIR 2.0.

Lakshadweep sees three CEOs in less than a year

Lakshadweep had three CEOs between November 2025 and October 2026. Gaurav Singh Rajawat, who oversaw the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, was transferred in November 2025. Awanish Kumar took charge in January 2026 but remained only until July, when AS Sivakumar replaced him.

Punjab got a new CEO in January 2026. Delhi CEO R Alice Vaz was moved out in February after completing substantial preparatory work for SIR. Gujarat also saw a change that month, followed by Sikkim in March and Chandigarh in April.

After the Assembly elections, West Bengal CEO Manoj Agarwal was appointed chief secretary, while Neelam Mani became CEO. In August, D Sajith Babu replaced Kerala CEO Rathan U Kelkar, who was controversially appointed secretary to Chief Minister VD Satheesan.

Changes at Nirvachan Sadan

Nirvachan Sadan saw at least four major DEC-level changes. Bhanu Prakash Yeturu was appointed in May 2025, followed by Pawan Kumar Sharma in September 2025 and Prakash Rajpurohit in October 2026. DEC Sanjay Kumar was suddenly repatriated in August 2026.

In Delhi, officials later began reverifying 47.5 lakh voters omitted from draft rolls. CEO Ashok Kumar said, "The booth-level officers have been directed to reverify the voters whose names were not in the draft rolls published after the enumeration phase. Our efforts are to ensure that no genuine voter's name is omitted in the final voters lists that will be published on December 4." The transfers and DEC-level changes continued alongside the SIR exercise.