After being faulted by Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy for postponing the local body elections and Chief Secretary (CS) Nilam Sawhney writing a letter urging him to revoke the orders, State Election Commissioner N. Ramesh Kumar sought to set the record straight.
In a reply to the CS, Mr. Ramesh Kumar asserted that the decision perhaps may fall under ‘moderate distancing protocol’ as per the guidelines to combat the spread of coronavirus.
“The health experts are of the view that India might have entered Stage-2! If the task force is able to categorically advise that after risk assessment permits holding elections in Andhra Pradesh, the SEC is prepared to readily revisit the issue before the 6-week postponement proposed,” he said.
Common pleading
In this three-page letter on Tuesday, the SEC said :“It would appear in retrospect that the Commission is needlessly faulted for acting just a day ahead than similarly placed States. Were the decision of postponement to be announced just a day later along with Maharashtra, West Bengal and Orissa, the scenario I am sure would have been different,” he said.
Reacting sharply to criticism that the SEC is ill-informed about the coronavirus threat and the financial implications for States, Mr. Ramesh Kumar said the SEC was neither alone nor ignorant. “SECs are a very informed and proactive group and some of the approaches I have suggested have emanated from our active information sharing platform.”
For the release of funds to local bodies (basic grants and performance grants), holding elections is one of the conditions. In the past, the State government was able to access successfully withheld funds after holding elections for the previous years as well. Since Andhra Pradesh is not alone in the present situation, the States, in a similar situation, can make a common pleading, he said.
Compressed schedule
The present election schedule is consciously evolved to complete the election process by March 31 to enable the State to make a case for accessing withheld 14th Finance Commission grant to local bodies. “Solely based on State’s comfort level, a compressed election schedule had been drawn up. This, however, had drawn flak from several quarters which I do not want to go into.”
Rebutting the allegations that the SEC did not consult the Medical and Health Department before taking a decision to postpone the elections, Mr. Ramesh Kumar asserted that putting any blame at the doorstep of the SEC was not proper. Understandably, the Health Department was busy and could not share any information or send any functionary with any data, he asserted.
