Ashok Lavasa has resigned as the Election Commissioner. Ashok Lavasa is all set to join the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as its new vice-president next month.
In the normal course of events, Ashok Lavasa would have retired as the Chief Election Commissioner in October 2022. (Photo:ADB)
Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa, next in the line to head the Commission, has resigned.
Ashok Lavasa’s resignation from the post of the Election Commissioner came on Tuesday, a month after he was named as the new vice-president of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
He is likely to join the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in September. Ashok Lavasa resigned as he could have taken the position at ADB only after resigning from his position in the Election Commission.
Ashok Lavasa was next in the line to head the Election Commission and become India’s Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) after retirement of the current CEC Sunil Arora in April 2021.
He has now become the second election commissioner to step down from the poll panel before the completion of his term.
Ashok Lavasa’s appointment as the ADB vice president was announced last week. “The ADB has appointed Ashok Lavasa as vice-president for Private Sector Operations and Public-Private Partnerships. He will succeed Diwakar Gupta, whose term will end on August 31,” the ADB said in a statement.
India Today had earlier reported that Ashok Lavasa’s appointment as vice-president of ADB was done on the recommendation of the Indian government. Sources told India Today TV that the PMO had given its consent on this matter.
WHO IS ASHOK LAVASA
Ashok Lavasa is a retired 1980 batch IAS officer of the Haryana cadre. He was appointed as Election Commissioner in January, 2018. Previously, he held the portfolio of India’s Finance Secretary from June 2016 till October 2017.
Besides this, he was also India’s environment secretary and the civil aviation secretary.
As an Election Commissioner, Ashok Lavasa made headlines when he registered his dissent when the Election Commission gave a clean chit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then BJP president Amit Shah on alleged violations of the Model Code of Conduct.
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