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Lok Sabha elections 2019: ‘Can you stop NSA from meeting PM too,’ writes Naidu in letter to EC
In a nine-page strongly-worded letter to chief election commissioner Sunil Arora, Naidu accused the Commission of denying him a level playing field as compared to the Centre and other states.
Continuing his tirade against the Election Commission, Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday questioned the poll body’s authority in preventing the state intelligence chief from meeting him.
In a nine-page strongly-worded letter to chief election commissioner Sunil Arora, Naidu accused the Commission of denying him a level playing field as compared to the Centre and other states.
Naidu was referring to the alleged instructions given by chief electoral officer Gopala Krishna Dwivedi to additional director general (intelligence) Kumar Vishwajeet to not report to the chief minister.
“The state intelligence chief works directly under the control of the chief minister. Because of the illegal orders of the CEO, the intelligence chief is not reporting to me. I would like to know whether the ADG (Intelligence) should also report to EC and if not, whom he should report to,” the TDP chief questioned.
He sought to know whether the EC had also directed Director of Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the National Security Advisor (NSA) not to work under Prime Minister Narendra Mod and had prohibited them from meeting and briefing the PM. “Even in other states, has the EC issued orders asking intelligence chiefs from reporting to their respective chief ministers? If not, why are these discriminating orders being issued only in case of Andhra Pradesh?” he asked.
Vishwajeet had replaced senior IPS officer AB Venkateshwara Rao as the intelligence chief on March 31 on the orders of the EC, which was acting on a complaint filed by YSR Congress party. In its complaint, the YSRC had claimed that Rao had been acting as a TDP agent in the elections. After the elections, Rao was appointed as DGP of Anti-Corruption Bureau.
The chief minister also questioned the CEO’s authority in preventing him from conducting review meetings of various departments when the model code of conduct was in force. “The CEO is clearly exceeding his jurisdiction. He cannot bar an elected government from discharging its duties,” he said.
He said there was no such provision in the model code of conduct that a chief minister should not hold official review meetings. He pointed out that the Narendra Modi government at the Centre had held a cabinet meeting on April 15 despite the model code of conduct being in force and even now, regular security briefings and meetings were taking place at the central level. “Similarly, in the neighbouring state of Telangana, the chief minister is conducting various departmental review meetings regularly. Why is this discrimination against Andhra Pradesh?” he asked.
Stating that there is a large gap of 42 days before the results are announced on May 23, Naidu said the normal administration cannot be allowed to come to a standstill. There were several crucial issues pertaining to the state like drinking water crisis, deaths due to sunstroke, release of water to crops and expedition of ongoing works in Polavaram irrigation project.
“Since the electorate has already exercised their franchise, the EC has no jurisdiction to stop any review meeting or briefing,” he said.
CEO Dwivedi could not be reached for comments as he was not taking calls.
Meanwhile, TDP’s official spokesman Lanka Dinakar told reporters in Amaravati that the party would stage a dharna in front of the EC office in New Delhi if it did not give up its discriminatory attitude towards Andhra Pradesh.
Naidu has been castigating the Election Commission for its alleged failure to conduct elections smoothly in AP. Soon after the polling on April 11, he described the poll body as the “most useless institution” in the country and a “branch office of the Bharatiya Janata Party”.
Andhra Pradesh went to polls for the 175-member state assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats on April 11. The ruling TDP fought an intense battle with main opposition YSR Congress party.
