By Navneet MishraNew Delhi, Feb 26 : India’s chief election commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora will retire on April 30, a day after overseeing assembly elections in five states.While revealing the dates for the assembly elections at Vigyan Bhawan on Friday, he announced that it will be his final press conference.
Arora says he is satisfied with his tenure as CEC since he has overseen 11 major elections including the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.He described conducting the Bihar assembly polls during the Coronavirus pandemic as ‘historic.’
During the press conference, Arora also recited a couplet written by his mother: “Kisi se hamsukhan nahin hota mehfil mein parwana, unhein baatein nahin aati jo apna kaam karte hain.(The lamp doesn’t associate with anybody in a gathering, because those who do their work don’t know how to make polite conversation).
The CEC said: “This is my final press conference.I will retire on April 30.I have already helped conduct 11 elections including the 2019 Lok Sabha election.You can say I’ve had a good innings.
I got enormous cooperation from my election commissioners and other colleagues.I want to read out the lines written by my mother.She passed away in 1989 because of cancer.”
By reading out these lines, Arora gave out a message that he lets his actions do the talking.
Born on April 13, 1956 in Punjab’s Hoshiapur, Arora, 65 is a retired IAS officer of the 1980 batch.He became an election commissioner on September 1, 2017 and took over the responsibility of the CEC on Dec 2, 2018.
He has worked in important ministries in the central government such information and broadcasting and skill development.After doing his MA in English from Panjab University, he joined the civil services and played a long administrative innings
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