The Election Commission of India (ECI,) on the 27th of March, transferred 3 Indian Public Service (IPS) officers of Andhra Pradesh (AP,) ahead of the AP Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.
The ECI took the decision after the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) alleged, the IPS officers were working for the TDP.
Vijayasai Reddy, a Member of Parliament of YSRCP met the ECI and registered a complaint against the TDP and the IPS officers.
Following the complaint, the ECI decided to transfer the IPS officers, A.B. Venkateswara Rao, the Intelligence Director General, Rahul Dev Sharma, the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Kadapa, and Venkata Ratnam, the SP of Srikakulam.
However, the TDP denied the allegations made by the YSRCP and claimed, they are a conspiracy of the YSRCP, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP.)
K. Ram Mohan Rao, the Spokesperson of the TDP, said, “The direction of the EC to act upon frivolous complaint of YSRCP without following due procedures and principles of natural justice is not only unjustified but also unconstitutional. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has been provided with Z plus security as he has the highest level of security threat. He had suffered an assassination attempt in the past. The director general intelligence directly supervises the security of Andhra Chief Minister and this attempt of the EC during the election campaigning is nothing but a threat to his security.
N. Chandrababu Naidu, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and the President of the TDP, said, the actions are a part of a strategy of the opposition Party to defame the TDP in Andhra Pradesh.
Speaking about the transfer, Ram Mohan said, the ECI transferred the IPS officers without giving any valid reason and without giving the officers a chance to speak.
The Party further claimed, the transfer is connected with the Vivekananda Reddy murder case, which was being investigated by the transferred officers.
As of now, the IPS officers have been asked to stay away from election duties.
The Andhra Pradesh Assembly and Lok Sabha elections are scheduled to be held on the 11th of April.
The major parties contesting the elections are the YSRCP, the TDP and the JanaSena Party.
The results of the elections will be announced on the 23rd of May 2019.
Stay tuned for further updates about the Andhra Pradesh Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.
