Who is Arun Goel, the election commissioner, who resigned ahead of Lok Sabha polls?

Goel was born on December 7, 1962, in Patiala. He is a 1985-batch IAS officer of the Punjab cadre. According to reports, Goel completed his post-graduation in Development Economics from Churchill College, University of Cambridge, England. He has also been trained at the John F Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, USA.

According to a report by Indian Express, Goel “is an outdoor person and an avid traveller, fond of skydiving, scuba diving, white-water rafting and mountain zipping".

Various stints

As Union Heavy Industries Secretary, Goel was involved with the e-vehicle policy and production-linked incentive scheme for the auto industry. He is also known for catalysing the E-vehicle movement in India.

During his stint in the Punjab government, he worked on the master plan of New Chandigarh. He unbundled the electricity board into corporations and introduced an e-tendering system. He also oversaw the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections during his postings in Ludhiana and Bhatinda.

Goel was also part of the committee that suggested using Remote Voting Machines for migrant voters to cast their votes. When January 25 was marked as National Voters’ Day, Goel said representatives from developed countries were interested in learning from India after seeing the usage of EVMs in such large numbers.

Notably, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) challenged Goel's appointment in the Supreme Court. It argued that the appointment was "arbitrary and violative of the institutional integrity and independence of the Election Commission". The apex court had dismissed the PIL.