Mumbai, Jan 20 (IANS): The Maharashtra government on Monday appointed senior IAS officer Dinesh Waghmare of 1994 batch as the State Chief Election Commissioner with a five-year term.
Waghmare is currently the additional chief secretary in the medical education department. The post was lying vacant after the retirement of U.P.S. Madan in September last year.
The state government on Monday released a government notification on Waghmare’s appointment.
The state Cabinet during its meeting held last Thursday had authorised Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to select the candidate from those shortlisted by a high power committee.
The Chief Minister was also authorised to recommend the same to Maharashtra Governor.
Senior bureaucrats including former Mumbai Port Trust chairman Rajiv Jalota and Additional Chief Secretary of the Planning Department, Rajagopal Devara among others were the front-runners for the post.
Waghmare, who is B.E. (Electronics) from Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, (VNIT), Nagpur and also possess the degree in M. Tech from IIT Kharagpur in Computer Science, has also done M.Sc. in Development & Project Planning, Bradford University, England, UK.
He has held key positions like principal secretary in the department of social justice, general administration and energy departments.
He was also the chairman and managing director of the state run Maharashtra State Power Transmission Company.
Waghmare’s appointment is crucial as the state government hopes that the local and civic body elections will be possible by May after the Supreme Court judgement on petitions in this regard.
The state Election Commission, which is an independent agency formed on April 26, 1994, conducts local and civic body elections in Maharashtra.
Waghmare as the state CEC will be responsible for overseeing the preparation and management of electoral rolls and conducting elections for zilla parishads, panchayat samitis, gram panchayats, municipal corporations, including those in Mumbai, and councils throughout Maharashtra.
Ruling and opposition parties have already started preparations for local and civic body elections.