Andhra Pradesh’s sacked State Election Commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar met Governor B. Harichandan on Monday and requested him for his reinstatement citing the High Court’s orders. The Governor assured him that he would look into the matter. However, he might take legal opinion or wait for the final orders from the Supreme Court.
Earlier, the Andhra government had sacked the state’s SEC because of his decision to postpone local body polls scheduled for 21- 23 March due to Covid-19 without consulting the state government.
After his meeting with the Governor, Ramesh Kumar said that he was confident of his reinstatement soon. He said, “Governor listened to me attentively. I requested him to reinstate me. I hope the decision will be in favour of me. I have reminded him of the HC judgment.” Extending support to the sacked officer, BJP leader Lanka Dinakar said,” Since the Supreme Court has not stayed the order of the High Court, the SEC should be reinstated. Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy›s behaviour has shown his mala fide intentions against Nimagadda Ramesh in the last 6 months.”
But the YSR government has filed a fresh petition in Supreme Court to stall any such move related to reinstatement of the SEC.
On 10 April, The Andhra government had removed Ramesh as and had issued an order curtailing the tenure of SEC from 5 to 3 years and amended the AP Panchayat Raj Act, 1994.