President Ram Nath Kovind has appointed Sunil Arora the new chief election commissioner, multiple media reports said on Monday. Arora will take over from OP Rawat on December 2, ahead of the counting of votes of five Assembly elections on December 11, reported NDTV, quoting unidentified officials.

Arora, 62, was appointed an election commissioner in September 2017. He previously served as secretary in the ministries of Information and Broadcasting and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. A 1980-batch Indian Administrative Officer of the Rajasthan cadre, he also served as chief managing director of the Indian Airlines for five years.

The Constitution stipulates that the chief election commissioner or an election commissioner have a tenure of six years or hold office till the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.