The Andhra Pradesh government on Friday removed the State Election Commissioner (SEC), N Ramesh Kumar, from the post by reducing his tenure from five years to three years, through an ordinance amending the Andhra Pradesh Panchayat Raj Act, 1994. The Andhra Pradesh Governor, Biswabhusan Harichandan also approved the ordinance the same day to change the tenure, eligibility and method of appointment of the SEC for the state.
Under the amended Act, only a person who has held the office of a judge of the High Court will be eligible to be appointed as an SEC. Presently, those not lower than the rank of a principal secretary are eligible. The tenure of five years has also been brought down to three with the scope of extension by another three years.
The AP government also issued a notification on Friday bringing the ordinance into effect, ending the tenure of Ramesh Kumar, the present SEC who has completed three years in office. "In pursuance of the promulgation of Ordinance No. 5 of 2020, Dr N Ramesh Kumar, IAS (Retd), the incumbent State Election Commissioner ceases to hold the office of State Election Commissioner on and with effect from 10.04. 2020," reads the notification issued by Panchayat raj and Rural Development department principal secretary Gopal Krishna Dwivedi.
The new ordinance makes the SEC a full-time post with the status of a High Court judge.
The move by the YSRCP-led government turned political with Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu writing to the Governor pointing out that the ordinance violated Article 243 of the Indian constitution. Naidu stated that the new ordinance would not apply to the present SEC Ramesh Kumar who was appointed with the Governor’s recommendation under Article 243 K of the constitution with a five-year tenure.
The spokesperson for the YSRCP, Ambati Rambabu insisted that the new ordinance was part of electoral reforms and not political vendetta as alleged by the TDP.
The AP government locked horns with the SEC after he postponed local body elections in the state on March 7 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. The YSRCP then accused Ramesh of having acted on Naidu's orders.
The state government subsequently filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the SECs decision but the apex court only endorsed the deferment of polls.
Ramesh would eventually write an unsigned letter to the Union Home Ministry requesting security from central forces allegedly after being issued threats. Ramesh also directed district collectors in the state to submit reports on alleged money distribution by ruling party candidates in the name of COVID-19 relief and seeking votes.
The previous TDP government appointed Ramesh Kumar, a 1983-batch IAS officer who retired as Special Chief Secretary to the Governor, as the SEC for a five-year term on January 30, 2016.