Chief Electoral Officer (CEO - Kerala) Rathan U. Kelkar will take charge as Secretary to Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan.

While formal orders are awaited, it is understood that Mr. Kelkar was contacted on Friday and asked to join the new Chief Minister’s team.

The 2003 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Kerala cadre has been serving as CEO - Kerala since December 2024.

In recent months, Mr. Kelkar has been in the news for having helmed the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls and the subsequent April 9 Kerala Assembly elections in which the UDF had secured a landslide win by claiming 102 of the 140 seats in the Assembly.

Both the then ruling CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Congress-led Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) – now in power – were opposed to the Election Commission of India (EC) decision to hold the SIR in Kerala.

Mr. Kelkar’s surprise appointment has also made news as it has come against the backdrop of the recent appointment of Manoj Kumar Agarwal, a 1990 batch IAS officer who oversaw the West Bengal Assembly elections as CEO of that State, as the Chief Secretary to the new BJP government.

Once Mr. Kelkar is relieved of the post of CEO, the State government would send a panel of names to the EC to get a new officer appointed in that post.

The General Administration department has also issued orders appointing 20 staff to Mr. Satheesan’s office, including Sreekumar T. as Special Private Secretary, Seeji G.S. as Press Secretary, and Roy Mathews as Media Secretary, Thilakan K.P.K. and Mohanachandran M.S. as Additional Private Secretaries.