The Prime Minister's Office on Monday sent Election Commissioner T S Krishnamurthy's name to the President for appointment as the next chief election commissioner of India.

Krishnamurthy will take over from J M Lyngdoh, who retires on February 7, official sources said.

A senior official in Rashtrapati Bhavan said the file has not yet been received. "The President is away in Hyderabad. He will look into it when he returns," he said.

Krishnamurthy, the first Indian Revenue Service officer to have become an election commissioner, joined the EC on
January 30, 2000.

His tenure as CEC will end in May, 2005.