Chief Secretary AP Padhi new State Election Commissioner

Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi will be the new State Election Commissioner. He will take charges after his voluntary retirement application is accepted. Padhi submitted his application seeking voluntary retirement today.

Governor Ganeshi Lal on Wednesday approved the appointment of Padhi as State Election Commissioner.

The 1983-batch Odisha cadre officer serving as Chief Secretary of Odisha since November 30, 2015 was to retire from service in February next year.

Born on 17 February, 1960, Padhi, a resident of Ganjam district holds an MBA degree from the prestigious Yale University, USA. He has served as the Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, and also several crucial portfolios like Home and Industries.

Padhi’s first challenge will be to hold civic body elections. There are no elected representatives in 101 civic bodies out of the total 114 in the State. The State Government has shrugged off its responsibility by just appointing senior bureaucrats as administrators to manage the show.

The State Election Commission also seems helpless reportedly owing to non-cooperation of the State Government.

Development Commissioner and Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Asit Tripathy is likely to be the new Chief Secretary of the State.

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