Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa resigns, set to join Asian Development Bank as vice president

Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa has resigned from his post, a report in The Indian Express said. Lavasa is likely to join as a vice president at the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Lavasa has submitted his resignation to President Ram Nath Kovind and has requested to be relieved on August 31, it said.

A retired 1980-batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre, Lavasa was one of the two Election Commissioners of India. He had joined as Election Commissioner in January 2018 and was next in line to head the Election Commission. Lavasa would have retired as the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) in October 2022.

Lavasa was in July named as the new vice-president of the Philippines-based ADB – a position he can take only after resigning from his current post in the ECI. According to reports, his appointment was made on the recommendation of the Government of India.

He will succeed vice-president Diwakar Gupta, who is in charge of private sector operations, and public-private partnerships. Gupta is set to complete his term on August 31.

The ADB president heads a management team of six vice-presidents. A vice-president is appointed for a term of three years, which can be extended by another two years.

Lavasa becomes the second election commissioner to step down from the panel before the completion of term. The last time an election commissioner had resigned was in 1973 when then CEC Nagendra Singh was appointed a judge in the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Lavasa had earlier served as the Finance Secretary, Environment, Forests and Climate Change Secretary and Civil Aviation Secretary.