VIJAYAWADA: A day after some retired bureaucrats complained to Governor ESL Narasimhan against the CM’s remarks against Chief Secretary L V Subramanyam and Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Gopal Krishna Dwivedi, Chief Minister and TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu defended his stand.
He maintained all that he said was that Subramanyam was a co-accused along with YSRC chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in a disproportionate assets case and the same was on record. He advised the former bureaucrats not to rake up all these issues with personal agenda.
“I said that the CS was a co-accused. It is on record. How can the Election Commission give room for doubts by taking such decisions (appointment of LV Subramanyam as Chief Secretary). I am not against anyone. But, very clear on the issue,’’ he asserted.
The retired bureaucrats, including former Chief Secretary IYR Krishna Rao, besides demanding an apology from Naidu, lodged a complaint with the Governor seeking action against him for his remarks on Subramanyam and Gopal Krishna Dwivedi. However, Naidu wondered why the ‘so-called’ bureaucrats remained silent when Chief Secretary Anil Chandra Punetha was transferred.
“What wrong did Punetha do? Didn’t you have the responsibility to question the ‘unilateral’ transfer of Punetha and three SPs without issuing them notices and shifting of an IAS officer from tribal community,’’ Naidu said.
He faulted ex-IAS officials’ silence when 65 retired officials from various parts of the country complained to the President against ‘unilateral’ decisions taken by the Election Commission. Finding fault with Subramanyam’s visit to the DGP’s office at 5 pm on the election day, Naidu sought to know, “Was it the time for the chief secretary to prefer to plant a sapling instead of reviewing the poll-related issues at the crucial time?”
Speaking to mediapersons at the Grievance Hall in Undavalli on Wednesday, Naidu took a jibe at the EC admission over malfunctioning of EVMs during the elections in the State.
“Wasn’t the EC responsible for the same? Why it took days for shifting EVMs to strong rooms from polling stations? Will you play havoc with our lives by failing to hold elections properly? What was your intention behind conducting elections in AP in the first phase without giving proper training to the poll staff?’’ Naidu wondered.
He also sought to know if the Election Commission was protecting thieves, who applied for deletion of votes. Though YSRC supporters submitted about seven lakh Form 7 applications online, the EC refused to share their IP addresses with the SIT appointed by the State government to punish those who attempted to remove the votes of genuine voters.
Observing that such a huge expenditure was never made for holding elections in the country, the TDP supremo sought to know who would take the responsibility for this. Criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to bring in Rs 2,000 currency notes, Naidu wanted to know what he achieved through demonetisation.“Will you ruin the country for the sake of electoral gains and for your selfish interests,” he said.
Some candidates pledged their properties and some even sold them to meet election expenditure this time because of the introduction of Rs 2,000 currency, he claimed.
Alleging that Modi misused Central agencies to target his political opponents, he pointed out at reported Income Tax raids on the choppers being used by non-BJP CMs.
“After failing to discharge their responsibilities all these years, YSRC leader are claiming they are coming to power. Immediately after polling the party president left for Hyderabad for holidaying,” he remarked. He appealed to people to remain vigilant to save democracy. He said he had launched an agitation against use of EVMs to protect the interests of the country. “I will tour various parts of the country to encourage people to debate on ‘defective’ EVMs,” he said.
Naidu for Raichur on Friday
The TDP supremo, who already took part in electioneering in Mandya in Karnataka and Chennai in support of the JD (S) and DMK, will participate in an election rally in Raichur on April 19 along with AICC chief Rahul Gandhi and Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy in support of the Congress Lok Sabha candidate