The differences between the State Elections Commision and the government of Andhra Pradesh are infinite. Ever since SEC Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar went against the wishes of the government, the government has been trying to oppose the SEC in every possible way it can. The government even tried to remove Nimmagadda from his post, but the SEC made sure that he remained in office until the end of his tenure.
Many employees working at the SEC have applied for leaves, and the Joint Director recently lost his job when he too joined the list of people who applied for leaves. Nimmagadda has been trying his best to conduct the local body elections as soon as possible, so that they are over before his tenure comes to an end. However, the government is trying to make sure that this does not happen at all. As a result, many of the employees working in the SEC have applied for leaves, so as to not go against the government.
Since there’s a shortage of employees to conduct the elections, Nimmagadda has written a letter to the CS, requesting for employees, so that he could conduct the local body elections. A notification has also been issued for all the eligible people to take part in the selection procedure, but considering everything that’s happening, will anyone be willing to join the SEC?
The leader of the Secretariat employees, Venkatram Reddy has recently met with the CM and said that none of the people working in the Secretariat should be considered for any posts in the SEC. Moreover, no one is particularly showing any interest in working in the SEC surrently, given that the government is totally anti towards the SEC. No one wants to risk the wrath of the government. What’s important to be noted is that these very people would be more than interested in being a part of the SEC, when the government appoints a new Commissioner once the term of Nimmagadda comes to an end.
Despite being an independent constitutional body, it is sad to see the SEC suffering this way, at the hands of the state government. It is now to be seen where things will go, and how severe or better they will get in the days to come.