NEW DELHI: Central government has called a meeting to appoint new election commissioners after the resignation of Central Election Commissioner Arun Goyal. The meeting on the 14th of this month will be chaired by the Prime Minister.

With Goyal's resignation, only Chief Election Commissioner Rajeev Kumar remains. Following the retirement of former Election Commissioner Anoop Chandra Pandey last February, there was a vacancy in the three-member commission. It is a situation where two Election Commissioners have to be appointed together, which may happen before the declaration of elections.

Sources in the central government say that Goyal cited personal reasons including health as the reason for his resignation. Although there was pressure from the top to avoid Goyal's resignation as the Election Commission prepares to announce the date of the Lok Sabha polls next week, Goyal did not budge. It is heard that he had differences of opinion with the central government on issues related to the Lok Sabha elections. There are indications that he had differences of opinion on issues including the SBI's delay in providing information on the electoral bond, and the deployment of central forces in Bengal.

A visit was made to Bengal on March 4 and 5 to assess the election preparations. Although he participated in the discussions, Goyal did not attend the press conference with the Chief Election Commissioner. The resignation was submitted after this.