On the 30th of January, Praveen Prakash, the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, wrote to the Chief Secretary, Adityanath Das.
Mr. Prakash’s letter was a reaction to the request of N. Ramesh Kumar, the State Election Commissioner (SEC) of Andhra Pradesh.
On the 29th of January, Mr. Kumar wrote To CS Das and sought the removal of Mr. Prakash from the upcoming Panchayat election duties.
In the letter, Mr. Ramesh Kumar asked the CS to take action against Praveen Prakash.
Mr. Kumar also said, Mr. Prakash influenced Collectors, Superintendents of police (SPs) and other officials to not attend the video conference conducted by SEC.
In response to this, Praveen Prakash wrote to CS Adityanath Das and denied the charges of the SEC against him.
In his letter, Mr. Praveen Prakash asked, “I am still not able to get an answer to myself that what is the inaction from my side in this regard. Since the inception of IAS, every IAS officer serving as well as retired knows that as far as IAS officer’s issues are concerned, the decision never ends at the Principal Secretary (Political) level. He is just a supporting officer to the Chief Secretary like five other Principal Secretaries in the GAD. So, holding me accountable for the point above raised is in what way justifiable? Is it fair? Is it ethical?”
Clarifying on the issue related to the supposed failure to respond to the letter dated on the 25th of January, Mr. Prakash said the Chief Secretary is the head of the General Administration Department (GAD) and he reports to him.
Clarifying another allegation of the SEC of influencing SPs and Collectors not to attend the meeting, Mr. Prakash said, “The decision to maintain status quo was taken to avoid creating confusion in the field about the gram panchayat elections. The decision of the government was communicated to the State Election Commission in writing and the same was known to officers in the field too. That was the sole reason for officers not attending the video conference convened by the SEC on January 23.” He further added, “Hence, it is beyond my comprehension that how Mr. Ramesh Kumar can assume that I am capable of intimidating the officers into submission, which is nothing but a failure to trust this truly blessed cadre.”
Praveen Prakash ended his letter and said that all forms of communications should be addressed to the Chief Secretary to the Government.
Meanwhile, nominations for the first phase of the polls began on Friday and polls will be held on the 9th of February.
The last date for filing nominations for the first phase is the 31st of January.
Stay tuned for further updates.
