Information and Broadcasting Secretary Naveen Chawla was on Saturday appointed election commissioner in the vacancy caused by the elevation of B B Tandon as the chief election commissioner.
The appointment of Chawla, which takes effect from Monday, was cleared by the prime minister and has been approved by the President, official sources said.
The 1969 Indian Administrative officer, due to retire in June, will have a five-year tenure in the three-member commission after Chief Election Commissioner T S Krishnamurthy retires on Monday. The other member of the commission is N Gopalaswami.
Tandon will have a tenure of one year as CEC followed by Gopalaswami, who is eligible for a two-year stint as CEC.
Thereafter, Chawla will have a tenure of two years as CEC beginning from 2008. If the present Lok Sabha completes its five-year term, he will be the CEC in charge of conducting the next general elections.