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Tamil Nadu government asks State Election Commissioner Jothi Nirmalasamy to step down

Published July 8, 2026 at 1:14 PM UTC

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The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK)-led Tamil Nadu government has reportedly requested the resignation of State Election Commissioner B. Jothi Nirmalasamy. Nirmalasamy, a 1992-batch IAS officer and recipient of the Kalpana Chawla Award, was appointed to the position in March 2024 by the previous Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government. This move is part of a broader effort by the current administration to replace officials appointed by the previous government. Recently, other officials, including retired IAS officer Shiv Das Meena and former Director General of Police Shankar Jiwal, have also resigned from their respective positions. Nirmalasamy currently oversees the State Election Commission, which is supervising the phased implementation of electronic voting machines (EVMs) for rural local body elections across the state. The commission has procured nearly 50,000 EVMs from Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, enabling voters to cast four votes electronically during local body polls. Additionally, she chairs the delimitation commission responsible for redrawing local body boundaries ahead of the elections. The tenure of rural local bodies in 28 districts ended on January 1, 2025, while the terms of local bodies in the remaining nine districts are scheduled to conclude on October 19, 2026. The tenure of all urban local bodies across Tamil Nadu is set to expire on March 1, 2027. Officials have highlighted the constitutional safeguards attached to the office of the State Election Commissioner, noting that the Constitution provides that a State Election Commissioner cannot be removed except in the same manner and on the same grounds applicable to the removal of a judge of a High Court, giving the office significant protection from executive action.