As the tenure of another Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pratap came to an end last month, the three member EC now has just has CEC Rajiv Kumar on the panel.

Till Friday, Goel was busy holding meetings on election preparedness. Hence his quitting the job at this late hour is seen as a surprise announcement by most bureaucrats and political pundits. The reasons for his quitting are not yet known.

With elections due in a few weeks, this places a question mark on the timing of the polls. The government will have to quickly remedy the situation and bring in experienced commissioners who can fill the breach.

A 1985 batch IAS officer of the Punjab cadre, Goel was appointed as Election Commissioner in November 2022. Prior to his appointment in the poll body, he was secretary, heavy industries in the Government of India.

Goel had taken voluntary retirement just a month ahead of retirment and was then appointed EC within days.

According to a gazette noticitation released Saturday evening, President Droupadi Murmu accepted "the resignation tendered by Shri Arun Goel, Election Commissioner with effect from the 9th March, 2024.”

His appointment, in 2022, came even as the Supreme Court was was hearing petitions regarding the appointment procedures of the Election Commission.