In an indication that the local body polls will be held soon, the state government filled the vacancy of the state election commissioner (SEC) on Monday, appointing senior bureaucrat Dinesh Waghmare its the head of the commission. His tenure will be of five years.

Waghmare, a 1994 batch IAS officer, worked as the additional chief secretary of the medical education department. U P S Madan, the previous SEC, retired last September. The state election commission is responsible for conducting the polls to civic bodies, zilla parishad, panchayat samitis and gram panchayats.