THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Gyanesh Kumar, who declined the offer to become the chief secretary of the state despite his seniority, has now sought the important position of election commissioner of the country. He is known to be a close confidante of Home Minister Amit Shah who has recognized his excellent performance in his duties.

Gyanesh is a 1988 batch Kerala cadre IAS officer. Until January 2024, he held various positions including Collector of Ernakulam and Secretary of Works and Tax Departments. He was also the Resident Commissioner at Kerala House in Delhi and was involved in the road development project in association with the Malaysian company Patibell.

A native of Uttar Pradesh, Gyanesh joined the civil service after obtaining a B.Tech in Civil Engineering from IIT Kanpur and a PG in Economics from Harvard.

Amit Shah, who was appointed as the head of the Jammu and Kashmir division while in the Union Home Ministry, oversaw the abrogation of Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

Shah entrusted Gyanesh with the task of forming the Sri Rama Janmabhoomi Temple Trust, which was established under the direction of the Supreme Court for the construction of the Sri Rama temple in Ayodhya. Gyanesh also retired as Secretary of the Ministry of Cooperation under Amit Shah, where he played a key role in drafting the Cooperative Amendment Bill passed by Parliament.

He also served as Joint Secretary of the Department of Defense in charge of Defense Production and as Secretary of the Inter-State Council Secretariat at the Centre.

Finally, the Center has appointed Gyanesh as one of the three individuals responsible for conducting the general elections of the world's largest democracy.

Gyanesh Kumar has had various assignments in Kerala. In 2016, while serving as the Resident Commissioner of Kerala House, he went on deputation to the Central government. He served as Joint Secretary in the Jammu and Kashmir Division in Amit Shah's Home Ministry in 2019, overseeing the repeal of Section 370 and being in charge of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. He also served as Additional Secretary responsible for issues related to the Supreme Court verdict in the Ayodhya case and was involved in the formation of the Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Temple Trust.

He served as Secretary in Amit Shah's Ministry of Cooperation and Parliamentary Ministry and retired on January 31, 2024. He is an alumnus of IIT Kanpur.

Sukhbir Sandhu

In 2021, he served as Chief Secretary in Pushkar Singh Dhami's BJP government in Uttarakhand. He also served on central deputation as Chairman of the National Highways Authority and as Secretary in the Parliamentary Ministry. In addition to his MBBS degree, he holds an MA in history and a law degree.