Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswabhushan Harichandan had closeted with State Election Commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar to know the reasons for the SECs decision of postponing the local body elections for six weeks.
The Governor had summoned the SEC and sought clarification from Ramesh Kumar, following a complaint by Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Ramesh Kumar attended the meeting with the Governor fully equipped with his answers and cited the Central government’s reports and initiatives on corona virus as the reason to his decision.
Though the SEC did not consult the Health Secretary or the Chief Secretary of the State before taking the decision, he had reportedly quoted the statements of the Central government functionaries to justify his decision.
The SEC also gently turned down the letters of the health secretary and chief secretary asking him to resume the election process, when the issue was cited by the Governor.
“A decision was taken in line with the Central government’s announcement of Corona as national epidemic,” he reportedly briefed the Governor and presented the guidelines to be followed when a national epidemic is declared by the Central government.
The SEC had also softly refused to lift the model code of conduct citing the reports of violence occurred in several places across the state in the process of local body elections.
The SEC had carried some video clips of the violent incidents which were reportedly supplied to him by the opposition TDP, which had instructed its cade down the line to record every incident.
The Governor, it is learnt, could not make any move further to prevail upon the SEC as desired by the chief minister. The SEC had submitted a detailed report to the Governor with evidences to justify his decision.
The evidences include the cases of corona virus and the decisions from the Central government and the incidents of violence reported across the state.
Unfortunately, the ruling YSR Congress or the State government, could not provide any evidence or justification for their demand to restore the elections and rule out the SEC’s decision.
