James Michael Lyngdoh

Of Khasi origin, Lyngdoh hails from the northeastern state of Meghalaya. He did his schooling from St. Edmund's School, Shillong. Lyngdoh is the son of a district judge. Lyngdoh completed his education in Delhi, at St Stephen's College.

Lyngdoh entered the IAS, when he was twenty-two. He quickly became known for probity and toughness and for favouring the underdog against politicians and the local rich.[3] In one early post, his principled execution of mandated land reforms so enraged landlords that he was transferred before the year was out. Similar clashes with the powers-that-be marked his rise in the Service. He rose to serve as Secretary, Coordination and Public Grievances, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India.

In 1997, the president named Lyngdoh one of India's three election commissioners. By 2001 he was chief election commissioner. Lyngdoh soon faced crisis in two of India's most troubled states.

In 2004, Lyngdoh published a book titled "Chronicles of an Impossible Election[13] ". In this book he has dealt with the electoral process in India and the role of Election Commission. It is a chronicle of the assembly elections held in Jammu and Kashmir in the year 2002. It also discusses the Gujarat elections of 2002. The book received widespread acclaim and praise.[14][15][16][17]

Lyngdoh has frequently expressed his disdain for politics and politicians. In February 2004, in an interview, Lyngdoh had said: "Politicians by appointment only, all others are welcome to my house.".[18] In August 2002, Lyngdoh had said that ""I think the politics today is dirty, vitiated and tendentious."[19] Lyngdoh described politicians as a "cancer" which has no cure.[20]

In 2013, J M Lyngdoh has expressed in views on "Decriminalization of Indian Electoral system" at the quarterly lecture series organised by the Centre of Public Policy Research (CPPR) supported by South Indian Bank[21]

• He remains active in public life after retirement. He is one of the members of India Rejuvenation Initiative an Indian anti-corruption organisation formed by a group of retired and serving bureaucrats.[22]
• In February 2011, Lyngdoh, while speaking to journalists after chairing a session on Free & Fair Elections – The Soul of Democracy, said state funding of elections is 'useless' and that a proportionate representation system where the electoral fight takes place between parties and not candidates would be more appropriate since it would involve significantly less expenditure.[23]

In June 2012, Lyngdoh, while addressing a round table on "Indian Democracy & Elections – What is to be done?", said that a proportional representation system for at least 50 percent of the seats of the legislatures would reduce electoral malpractices. He explained that political parties would reduce the need to spend huge amounts of funds on elections of individuals if the switch to proportional representation is made. He opined that the Election Commission should take charge of even the internal elections of political parties since in his opinion that is the only way to ensure democracy.[24]