E-Paper
‘I may be arrested in a day or two’: Chandrababu Naidu after poll body replaces Andhra chief secretary
The EC ordered that Punetha, a 1984-batch IAS officer, keep himself out of election-related duties till the entire election process is completed after the announcement of results on May 23. He will have to hand over charge to Subrahmanyam.
With just five days to go for assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Andhra Pradesh, the Election Commission on Friday night transferred state chief secretary Anil Chandra Punetha.
According to the EC orders, senior IAS officer of 1983 batch, L V Subrahmanyam will take over as the new chief secretary. Subrahmanyam, who is presently special chief secretary of youth services and culture department, will assume charge at 10.30 am at the Secretariat in Amaravati on Saturday.
The EC ordered that Punetha, a 1984-batch IAS officer, keep himself out of election-related duties till the entire election process is completed after the announcement of results on May 23. He will have to hand over charge to Subrahmanyam.
The sudden transfer of Punetha follows his defiance of the EC orders issued on March 26, transferring director general of police (Intelligence) A B Venkateshwara Rao along with two superintendents of police – A Venkata Ratnam of Srikakulam and Rahul Dev Sharma of Kadapa. The EC gave the orders based on a complaint from the YSR Congress party that they were cooperating with the ruling Telugu Desam Party in alleged electoral malpractices.
Punetha, who initially issued orders transferring the three policemen following the EC directions, modified the orders the following day retaining the intelligence chief in the same post. Subsequently, the state government moved the high court which upheld the EC orders and Punetha had no option but to shift Venkateshwara Rao from the intelligence chief post.
Subsequently, the EC also issued orders stripping director general of police R P Thakur from the additional charge of Anti-Corruption Bureau.
TDP president and chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu took strong exception to the transfer of chief secretary by the EC. “He has been shifted for no fault of his. Earlier, they did the same with intelligence chief and two SPs. It is a clear case of conspiracy and intimidation by the NDA government,” he said, addressing an election rally in Visakhapatnam.
He alleged that PM Modi had been targeting him and his party, just because he had revolted against the Centre for the injustice meted out to the state and had not remained subservient to the Prime Minister.
“For the last few days, he has been directing central agencies like the Income Tax department, Enforcement Directorate and the police forces to conduct raids on my party leaders. I won’t be surprised, if I am arrested in a day or two. What mistake did I commit? Is demanding our rights a crime?” he asked and said he was only fighting for the rights of the state.
