THE Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday appointed Vidarbha’s Sandip Sagale as the new Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Gujarat. Sagale hails from Akola. He will take over responsibilities from the current CEO, Hareet Shukla, once he formally assumes the charge. Sagale, a 2007-batch officer of the Indian Administrative Service in the Gujarat cadre, is currently serving as Director General of the Sports Authority of Gujarat, a role he took on following a major State Government reshuffle in early 2025. Sagale did his schooling from Malegaon taluka in Akola district from N N Mundada school.

 

After completing education till Class XII, he moved to Nagpur as he got admission in Laxminarayan Institute of Technology (LIT) (now Laxminarayan Innovation and Technological University), where he did Bachelar of Technology in Chemical Engineering. After the graduation Sagale took up a job as Chemical Engineering and then cracked Civil Services Examination to get Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in August 18, 2007. He got Gujarat cadre and since then he is living in Gujarat. Sagale worked as District Collector in four districts including Narmada, Ahmedabad, Bharuch. He also worked as the Industries Commissioner at the Industries Commissionerate in Gandhinagar. His administrative career spans a range of fields and headquarters assignments. Sagale has served as Municipal Commissioner of the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation.

 

Officials noted that his experience in both urban and district administration has provided him with extensive exposure to diverse governance challenges. The office of the Chief Electoral Officer serves as the key link between the Election Commission of India and the state administrative machinery on electoral matters. In Gujarat, the CEO is responsible for overseeing the revision of electoral rolls, coordinating election preparedness with district authorities, ensuring the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct during polls, and submitting regular reports to the Election Commission. Hareet Shukla will continue to hold the office until Sagale formally assumes charge and completes the prescribed handover with senior officials of the state Election Department. During his tenure, Shukla supervised the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Gujarat, a major exercise aimed at enhancing voter registration accuracy. The entire voter revision exercise began on October 27 last year and ended on February 10.