Arun Singhal is Uttar Pradesh's chief electoral officer

Lucknow: Arun Singhal, a 1987-batch IAS officer, has been appointed the chief electoral officer of Uttar Pradesh, officials said on Wednesday.

His name was cleared by the Election Commission and communicated to Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan this week.

The post had been lying vacant since April after Umesh Sinha was posted as the deputy election commissioner in New Delhi.

The poll panel had sought names of three IAS officers from the state. The other two names proposed by the government were of Anita Bhatnagar Jain and Alok Sinha.

"The Election Commission cleared the name of Singhal keeping in mind the 'neutrality, fair conduct and the track record' of the officer," a poll panel official said.

Singhal is currently the principal secretary in rural development in the Uttar Pradesh government.