Former chief election commissioner TN Seshan died on Sunday, former bureaucrat SY Qureshi tweeted. He was 86 years old. “Sad to announce that Shri TN Seshan passed away a short while ago. He was a true legend and a guiding force for all his successors. I pray for peace to his soul,” Qureshi, who is also an ex-chief of the poll watchdog, wrote on Twitter. Tirunellai Narayana Iyer Seshan was a 1955 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre and was known for his reforms in the Indian elections.
Former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India, Tirunellai Narayana Iyer Seshan died of a cardiac arrest on Sunday in Chennai at the age of 86. TN Seshan was the 10th Chief Election Commissioner and had served from December 12, 1990, to December 11, 1996. As the 10th Chief Election Commissioner of India, he is credited with flexing the poll body’s far-reaching constitutional powers to keep politicians in check during his tenure.
TN Seshan was a retired 1955 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Tamil Nadu cadre. Seshan had earlier served as the 18th Cabinet Secretary of India in 1989. He had also won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for his services to the government in 1996.
Former Chief Election Commissioner of India, SY Quraishi said, “Sad to announce that Shri TN Seshan [former Chief Election Commissioner of India] passed away a short while ago. He was a true legend and a guiding force for all his successors. I pray for peace to his soul.”
He was popularly known for enforcing Model Code of Conduct. Seshan also waged war against the tendency of politicians to flout the model code of conduct, which they were supposed to abide by. Polling was suspended in a Madhya Pradesh constituency as a serving governor campaigned for his son, ultimately leading to his resignation. In Uttar Pradesh, a minister was forced to quit the dais at a rally as the campaign period had just ended.
TN Seshan is a retired 1955 batch Indian Administrative Service(IAS) officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre. Seshan had earlier served as the 18th Cabinet Secretary of India in 1989. He had received the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award, considered Asia’s Nobel award in 1996 for his initiatives in making the electoral process more transparent.
Born in December 1932 in Thirunellai, Kerala’s Palakkad district, TN Seshan was a graduate in Physics and worked for three years as a demonstrator at the Madras Christian College, while he passed the IAS exam and joined the civil services in 1955. TN Seshan also studied at Harvard University on Edward S. Mason Fellowship where he earned a master’s degree in public administration.
Born in December 1932 in Thirunellai, Palakkad district in Kerala, TN Seshan was a graduate in Physics and worked for three years as a demonstrator at the Madras Christian College. This is when he passed the IAS exam. He was also honoured with the Ramon Magsaysay Award, known as Asia’s Nobel.
