IAS Dinesh Waghmare appointed as State Election Commissioner Ahead Of Civic Polls

Senior IAS officer Dinesh Waghmare has been appointed as the State Election Commissioner by the Maharashtra government. He will assume the charge immediately.

His appointment was confirmed by the Governor of Maharashtra, in accordance with the provisions of Article 243-K and Article 243-ZA of the Constitution of India, as well as the Maharashtra State Election Commissioner (Qualifications and Appointment) Act, 1994.

The post of Election Commissioner was vacant since UPS Madan's term ended in September last year.

The new commissioner will be responsible for conducting the upcoming Municipal Corporation, Nagar Palika and Zilla Parishad elections. With local body polls likely to be held within the next few months, Waghmare will have a tough job at hand, said officials.

Additionally, he will be responsible for overseeing the preparation of electoral rolls and conducting elections for various regional, district, panchayat across Maharashtra.

His Journey:

Waghmare, a 1994-batch IAS officer, will serve a non-renewable five-year term. His tenure will begin from the date he officially assumes office.

Before his appointment, Waghmare served as the Principal Secretary in the Medical Education and Drugs department, with an additional charge of the Employment Guarantee Scheme.

The appointment order was issued by Manisha Patankar-Mhaiskar, Additional Chief Secretary and Chief Protocol Officer to the Maharashtra Government.

Waghmare studied electronics and telecommunications engineering followed by a masters in computer science from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.

He has worked in several departments including home, energy, social justice and education. He has held the posts of municipal commissioner of Navi Mumbai and Pimpri Chinchwad, collector of Buldhana and chief executive officer of Yavatmal and Washim zilla parishads. He worked in the energy sector earlier and has a good rapport with chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

As per reports, Waghmare was chosen from a pool of 12 candidates, said sources. Eight of them were IAS officers (including two serving) including Dinesh Waghmare, Rajgopal Devara, Niteen Kareer, Rajiv Jalota, Baldev Singh, JP Gupta, Manoj Saunik and Shrikant Deshpande while four others were IPS officers including Vinay Kargaonkar, KK Sarangal, Chiranjeevi Prasad and Atulchandra Kulkarni. Among them, Manoj Saunik, Deshpande and Baldev Singh have already got their post-retirement postings.