Bhubaneswar: Chief secretary AP Padhi has been appointed as the new State Election Commissioner(SEC). The governor Ganeshi Lal has approved the recommendation of the State government for appointment of Padhi as the next SEC.

The SEC chief post was laying vacant since last year after incumbent Naba Kumar Nayak completed his five years tenure.

Padhi, a 1983 batch IAS officer was attaining his superannuation in Feburary 2020. He become the chief secretary of the State on November 30, 2015 after Gokul Chandra Pati.

Now with the top post in the State bureaucracy lying vacant, all eyes are on who is going to be the next chief secretary. However, the present development commissioner Asit Tripathy is emerging as the favourite for the post. Tripathy is now officiating as the additional chief secretary home and also KBK chief administrator.