Guwahati, Sept. 26 -- Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar is facing renewed political scrutiny after former Kerala chief secretary Jiji Thomson claimed that Kumar, while serving as an IAS officer in 2016, had asked him whether he would contest the 2019 Lok Sabha election as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Pathanamthitta.

Thomson, who was serving as Kerala chief secretary at the time, said the conversation took place during a flight to Delhi. According to Thomson, Kumar asked about his future plans and suggested that he could contest the Lok Sabha election on a BJP ticket and subsequently become a Union minister if he won.

"I promptly declined the offer, as I was not interested in contesting elections," Thomson told A...