The Election Commission of India (ECI) has transferred a total of nine IAS and IPS officers on Tuesday (April 2) in Andhra Pradesh. These include three District Election Officers-cum-District Collectors, five Superintendents of Police and one Inspector General of Police.
Avinash Kumar, Principal Secretary, ECI has instructed Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary K.S. Jawahar Reddy to transfer P. Raja Babu, DEO of Krishna district, M. Gowthami, DEO of Anantapur, and G. Lakshmisha, DEO of Tirupati. The police officers on the list of transfers are G. Pala Raju (IGP, Guntur Range), P. Parameshwar Reddy (Prakasam SP), Y. Ravi Sankar Reddy (Palnadu SP), P. Joshua (Chittoor SP), K.K.N. Anburajan (Anantapur SP) and K. Tirumaleshwar (Nellore SP).
The ECI has also directed that these officers should hand over charge to the officer immediately below in rank, and these officers should not be assigned to any election-related works till completion of simultaneous elections to the Legislative Assembly and Lok Sabha, 2024 in Andhra Pradesh.
The ECI further instructed the Chief Secretary to furnish it a list of three IAS officers each for Krishna, Anantapur and Tirupati districts, and a list of three IPS officers for each of the incumbent posts, before 5 p.m. on April 2, along with their performance grading for the last five years and Vigilance Clearance. The ECI will then scrutinise the lists and appoint new DEOs and SPs for the respective districts accordingly.
In a phone conversation with The Hindu, Mukesh Kumar Meena, A.P. Chief Election Officer (CEO), confirmed that the ECI ordered these transfers on Tuesday with immediate effect. The respective officers reportedly handed over the charge to their immediate subordinate and left their offices as and when they received the letters from the Chief Secretary.
