Nasim Zaidi set to become next Chief Election Commissioner

Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi will become the next Chief Election Commissioner later this month. The Law Ministry has initiated the file for the appointment as the incumbent, H.S. Brahma, retires on April 19. Highly placed sources in the government said here on Wednesday that the Law Ministry had cited the convention of appointing the senior-most Election Commissioner to the post. Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi is leaving on a foreign tour, there is a sense of urgency to clear the paperwork as the file will travel to the Rashtrapati Bhavan for the President to make the appointment. After Mr. Zaidi’s appointment, the government will set in motion the process to appoint two Election Commissioners. Mr. Zaidi will have a tenure up to July 2017, when he attains the age of 65. A 1976-batch IAS officer, Mr. Zaidi has worked in the Civil Aviation Ministry for a long time.   TOI