Mr. Goel had returned to Delhi because of “health concerns,” according to the CEC. But, people close to Mr. Goel downplayed it, saying that “he is in the pink of health.”
Many were taken aback by Election Commissioner (EC) Arun Goel’s abrupt and unexpected resignation, which came just one week before the Lok Sabha election was announced. However, insiders within the poll body have noted that during the EC’s visit to West Bengal to supervise the parliamentary election preparations, apparent differences between the CEC, Rajiv Kumar, and the EC surfaced.
Reportedly, Mr. Goel disagreed with Mr. Kumar, who spoke to the media on his own on March 5, so he declined to come to the press conference in Kolkata to brief the media about the arrangements in West Bengal, which has 42 parliamentary seats, the third most after Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.
The CEC did bring up Mr. Goel’s return to Delhi citing “health concerns” during the press briefing. Sources close to Mr. Goel, however, have refuted it, saying instead that “he is in the pink of health.”
The sources insisted, “He flew back to Delhi cutting short his visit in West Bengal owing to some serious differences.”
It is unknown, nevertheless, and the sources did not go into additional detail regarding the events that took place between the two officials, their disagreements, and the precise topics on which they disagreed. With his tenure ending in November 2027, Mr. Goel was set to take over as CEC the following year.
On March 7, he went to Delhi to speak with Mr. Kumar regarding the Lok Sabha election at the Election Commission of India (ECI) headquarters.
On March 8, he allegedly sent his resignation to the President of India without notifying the CEC, instead of showing up for a meeting between Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla and ECI brass regarding election preparations.
