New Delhi, May 15 (IANS): Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar will be assuming the charge of 25th Chief Election Commissioner on Sunday afternoon, officials said.

On Saturday, Sushil Chandra relinquished the charge after completing his tenure as the CEC.

The government on May 12 appointed the senior most Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar as the new Chief Election Commissioner of India with effect from May 15.

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

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

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

He retired as Finance Secretary in February. 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.

Kumar joined as Election Commissioner in place of the then Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa.