Amaravati, Jan 27: Government Advisor (Public Affairs) Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said that the State Election Commissioner was trying to terrorise and demoralise the officials, but the State shall protect them in case of any unwarranted censure.

Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, he said that SEC Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar’s proceedings issued against Panchayat Raj Principal Secretary Gopal Krishna Dwivedi and Commissioner M Girija Shankar were not in good taste and he was only trying to blame others for his acts. He also pointed out that the SEC has no powers to issue proceedings against the IAS officials using objectionable language. He can at most keep them away from duties but using remarks that may affect their career is not in good taste. The powers vested on him are limited to the duration of polls and such remarks seem to be intended to terrorise the staff.

The SEC is trying to threaten the officials in such a way that affects their duties, he said and added that it is inappropriate for a retired officer to treat other officers in such a manner.

The SEC has been misusing his powers by trying to benefit the opposition leader Chandrababu Naidu, he said. The SEC seems to be working in tandem with or to benefit Chandrababu Naidu who is conspiring to create a chaotic atmosphere instead of encouraging unanimous polls.

Speaking in regard to the electoral roll, Ramakrishna Reddy said that the Central Election Commission (CEC) had released a consolidated electoral list on January 16, which at least takes two months to process at the village level. As the tenure of SEC Ramesh Kumar will be completed by that time and was stubborn to conduct the elections, he laid the blame on the State government officials falsely alleging them, he said.

Recalling the 2019 election scenario, Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said that TDP Chief Chandrababu Naidu, who was then Chief Minister also terrorized Gopal Krishna Dwivedi right in his chamber for being impartial in conducting State elections. However, the same Chandrababu Naidu is now backing up the Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar and using him in his political conspiracy, he said and added that SEC is being vindictive towards the State government. He appealed to all stakeholders in the gram panchayat (GP) polls to strive for unanimous elections to avoid chaos and useless expenditure and to make use of the incentives announced by the government for the development of their village.