Ashok Lavasa resigns as Election Commissioner, to join as Vice President of ADB

Ashok Lavasa has resigned from his position as Election Commissioner on August 18, 2020, to join as the Vice- President of the Phillippines-based Asian Development Bank (ADB). Mr. Lavasa will be joining his new position in September 2020. 

Ashok Lavasa has submitted his resignation to President Ram Nath Kovind and has requested to be relieved from his position as Election Commissioner by the end of August 2020. Earlier on July 15, 2020, Ashok Lavasa was named as the new Vice President of the Asian Development Bank. 

As per the statement by a multilateral lending agency, ADB has appointed Ashok Lavasa as VP for Private Sector Operations and Public-Private Partnerships. Mr. Lavasa will succeed Diwakar Gupta, whose term will end on August 31, 2020.

Key Highlights:

•  Ashok Lavasa would have retired as the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) in October 2022.

• As per the officials, Ashok Lavasa’s appointment as the Vice President of ADB has been on the recommendation of the Government of India.

• International bodies can appoint a person only if they have accepted the position.

• Ashok Lavasa’s premature exit puts Sushil Chandra, his colleague, next in the line of succession.

• Lavasa is still a part of the Election Commission and is yet to resign from the poll body as he will be joining ADB in September 2020.

• Vice President of the ADB is appointed for the term of three years, which can be later extended by another two years. The ADB Vice President heads a management team which comprises of six vice presidents.

About Ashok Lavasa:

Lavasa has an MBA degree from Southern Cross University in Australia and an M.Phil degree in Defence and Strategic Studies from the University of Madras.

Ashok Lavasa is a bureaucrat who joined Election Commission on January 23, 2018. As being the senior-most on the poll panel, he would have become Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) in April 2021.

As per the statement released by ADB, Ashok Lavasa has a long and distinguished career in the Indian Civil Service. He has extensive experience in infrastructure development and public-private partnerships at the state and federal level. Lavasa also consists of deep knowledge of public policy and the role of the private sector.

Lavasa who was a 1980 batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre, had led an Indian delegation in the climate change negotiations for the Paris Agreement. He was instrumental in finalizing India’s nationally determined contributions. He also worked as a Joint Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs where he worked closely with many ADB projects that had private sector components.