Ashok Lavasa resigns as Election Commissioner, set to join ADB

New Delhi: Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa, who was next in the line to head the Commission, on Tuesday resigned from his post to take charge as Vice-President of the Philippines-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) next month.

As Election Commissioner, Lavasa grabbed headlines when he registered his dissent on the poll panel's clean chit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then BJP President Amit Shah on alleged violation of the Model Code of Conduct during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Lavasa's resignation comes a month after the ADB appointed him as Vice-President for Private Sector Operations and Public-Private Partnership. He will succeed Diwakar Gupta, whose term will end on August 31.

The retired 1980 batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre, Lavasa was next in the line to head the Election Commission and become India's Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) after the retirement of current CEC Sunil Arora in April 2021.

He has now become the second Election Commissioner to step down from the poll panel before the completion of term. Lavasa's appointment as the ADB Vice-President was announced in mid July.

Lavasa was appointed as Election Commissioner in January 2018. He has previously held a range of senior posts, including Finance Secretary, Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, and Civil Aviation Secretary.