State Election Commissioner (SEC) N. Ramesh Kumar is scheduled to visit the district on February 1 to oversee the Gram Panchayat election process.
Collector J. Nivas and other senior officials have been making arrangements for his tour and scheduled meetings even as the spat between the commission and the government over the timing of the elections continued.
Andhra Pradesh Teachers’ Federation State President K. Bhanumurthy said that the association would urge the SEC to exempt pregnant women and employees suffering from chronic diseases from poll duties.
APNGOs State Associate President Chowdary Purushottam Naidu and APNGOs Srikakulam District Unit President Hanumanthu Sairam have already requested the SEC to spare medical and health employees from election responsibilities as they were busy with COVID-19 vaccination duty.
“All IAS and IPS officers and others are supposed to respect the constitutional bodies such as Election Commission. Intentional dereliction of duty leads to bad remarks in service records of officials,” said K. Srinivasa Rao, former President of Vizianagaram Bar Association.
Lok Satta Party State executive president Bhisetty Babji said, “The ongoing confrontation was neither good for government nor SEC. They should stop allegations and counter allegations since the election process has begun.”
