Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar, the State Election Commissioner, or should we say, the former State Election Commissioner? Now, that is the exact problem that Nimmagadda is dealing with, where there’s no clarity if he’s still the SEC of Andhra Pradesh or not.
The government of Andhra Pradesh passed an ordinance against Nimmagaddda Ramesh Kumar, removing him from his post, when he refused to conduct the local body elections in March, owing to the situation of Coronavirus in the country and in the state. Following his removal, the Andhra Pradesh government appointed a retired Tamil Nadu judge as the SEC in Nimmagadda’s stead.
Nimmagadda did not take any of this lightly, and went to the High Court. The High Court reinstated Nimmagdda as the SEC, irking the government. The government then approached the Supreme Court, requesting for a stay order on the High Court’s decision. However, the Supreme Court refused to give a stay order three times, to the dismay of the AP government.
Nimmagadda, as per the directions of the High Court of AP, has now approached the Governor of Andhra Pradesh, Biswabhushan Harichandan, to reinstate him as the SEC of AP. On the other hand, the government of AP has now said that it cannot reinstate Nimmagadda as the SEC while investigation is still going on in the Supreme Court. The government of Andhra Pradesh has once again approached the Supreme Court, requesting it to issue a stay order on the High Court’s decision of reinstating Nimmagadda as the SEC. The government of Andhra Pradesh removed Nimagadda from his post on the basis of Caste discrimination, and the investigation is regarding this matter.
After his meeting with the Governor, Nimmagadda said that the Governor responded in the affirmative to his request, and that he hopes to be back to his post, functioning as he was, as soon as possible. However, with the investigation still going on, and the government stating that it cannot reinstate Nimmagadda until the investigation is over, Nimmagadda’s position continues to remain a paradox, to him and to the state as well.