Protect retired ceo from tdp, ex-secretaries to ec
Bhanwar Lal, a 1983 batch IAS officer of AP cadre, retired as Chief Electoral Officer on 31 October on superannuation.
Former Union energy secretary E.A.S. Sarma and Andhra Pradesh former chief secretary I.Y.R. Krishna Rao wrote separate letters to Chief Election Commissioner A.K. Joti on 1 and 2 November, seeking protection to outgoing Andhra Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Bhanwar Lal from the Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP government’s “harassment” because of “political reasons”.
Both Sarma and Krishna Rao had voiced concern over the alleged harassment of Bhanwar Lal, “an honest officer who impartially discharged his duties as the election officer” by the TDP government, which had framed charges against for misuse of his official position and default of arrears to the government and resorting to misconduct etc.
The two senior retired bureaucrats had expressed doubts that Bhanwar Lal had been targeted because of his upright behaviour in conducting several elections, especially the recent Nandyal Assembly by-poll on 23 August. The EC officials had recovered huge amounts of money from the cars and vans of some ruling party leaders, including a vehicle allegedly belonged to Municipal Minister P. Narayana.
Bhanwar Lal, a 1983 batch IAS officer of AP cadre retired as CEO on 31 October on superannuation after serving the post for over seven years. Hours after Bhanwar Lal retired, on Tuesday afternoon, Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary Dinesh Kuamr issued a GO ( government order) No. 2441 charging that the retiring IAS officer had violated Clause 3 (1) of All India Services (Conduct) Rules 1968 Act by defaulting on pay- ment of arrears to the government since 2007.
The charges are related to a case dating back to his tenure in 2000-01. Bhanwar Lal was the district collector of Hyderabad from 1 November 1996 to May 2000. As the collector, he was allotted a big bungalow No 33, on Road No 13, Banjara Hills in the city. He didn’t vacate his house even after being transferred to a public sector undertaking where he is not entitled to that bungalow.
The Estate Officer of the General Administration Department ( GAD) had forcefully evicted the officer from the building on 3 May 2006 and issued a notice asking him to pay the rent along with penalty for the unauthorised period of 70 months, a total estimated at Rs 17.50 lakh. Later, on a petition filed by Bhanwar Lal, the GAD in May 2007 reduced the amount to Rs 4.37 lakh.
The officer did not pay it on the ground that he had not done any wrong by keeping that bungalow as he was not provided with any alternative after bieng transferred from Hyderabad collector’s post. At a time when the issue was believed to be sorted out amicably, the GAD of Andhra Pradesh suddenly revoked it and framed charges against Bhanwar Lal on the same day he demitted office. In the GO issued by the Chief Secretary of AP, Bhanwar Lal was asked to reply to the charges against him within 15 days and be ready to appear before a panel to be constituted by the government in the case. Sources said Bhanwar Lal would reply to the charges. When contacted on Friday, Bhanwar Lal refused to comment on the case at the moment. On 1 November, former AP Chief Secretary I.Y.R. Krishna Rao wrote a letter to CEC Joti seeking his intervention to stop the “harassment” of Bhanwar Lal by the TDP government.
Krishna Rao told the EC that Bhanwar Lal was denied his promotion as special chief secretary in 2007 by the then Congress government due to his “unbending” attitude. “After repeated interventions and efforts, he, however, was made special CS in 2016. Krishna Rao also said that he as CS had tried to close the case of Bhanwar Lal’s rent arrears but the government came in the way to take revenge after his retirement.” Sarma wrote another letter to Joti on Thursday seeking his intervention to protect interests of Bhanwar Lal from AP government. Sarma has drawn the attention of Joti to a precedent when the EC came to the rescue of an official who worked as CEO of Bihar from the harassment of the state government some years ago. YSR Congress president and MP Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, who is set to commence on a six-month-long padayatra from Monday, is attempting to revive the memories of his late father and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who had undertaken a similar walkathon 14 years ago.
Jagan wil begin his padayatra from his family estate Idupulapaya in Kadapa district after prayers at his late father’s memorial at 9am and cover the entire Rayala Seema region. He will then proceed to the north coastal tip, Ichhapuram in Srikakulam district by end of April 2017. The total distance he will cover is around 3,000 km—the longest ever distance traversed by any politician in the state, claim sources close to him.
There is a sentiment in AP that whoever undertook a padayatra since 20014 came to power. Rajasekhara Reddy, who at the age of 56 walked a distance of around 1,457 km in the hot summer of April 2003 for about two months, secured power in 2004 and became the CM.
TDP president Chandrababu Naidu, who lost two elections in 2004 and 2009, had undertaken a padayatra in October 2013 and covered a distance of around 2,500 km from Telangana to coastal Andhra in three months. He became the CM after the 2014