New Delhi, May 12 (IANS): Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar has been appointed the new Chief Election Commissioner of India with effect from May 15, an official statement said on Wednesday.

According to the statement issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice, he will take over on May 15 as incumbent Sushil Chandra's term ends on May 14.

Rajiv Kumar is the senior most Election Commissioner in the three-member poll panel after Sushil Chandra.

"The President is pleased to appoint Rajiv Kumar, the senior most Election Commissioner, as the Chief Election Commissioner in the Election Commission of India. Rajiv Kumar will assume the charge of the office of the Chief Election Commissioner of India with effect from May 15, 2022 vice Shri Sushil Chandra consequent upon his demitting Office of the Chief Election Commissioner on May 14, 2022," it read.

Rajiv Kumar, a 1984 batch IAS officer, was appointed as an Election Commissioner in September 2020.

He retired as Finance Secretary in February 2020. During his over three-decade tenure in the government, he worked with various ministries at the Centre and in his state cadre of Bihar and Jharkhand.

He joined as Election Commissioner in place of Ashok Lavasa.