Maya has a new post for booted officer

Earlier,addressing a press conference here,Mayawati issued a veiled threat to the poll panel saying the removal of officers would not only hit their morale but also create obstacles for peaceful polling in the state. She said her Government would not be responsible if anything untoward happens before polling.

Reiterating her government’s commitment to ensure that EC directives are followed,the CM said the Commission’s decision to remove several DMs,SPs and other senior officers without any reason or inquiry,however,could not be justified. She claimed the EC had decided to transfer officers on the basis of baseless complaints lodged by the opposition parties.

She said the EC had appointed several officers,including DMs and SPs,without demanding a panel of officers from the state as is the tradition. She said her Government had written to the EC in this regard.

Appreciating the role of Fateh Bahadur in implementing EC directives,the CM said: “The removal of an officer holding an important post like Principal Secretary (Home),without assigning any reason,but on the complaints of the opposition parties,is unjustified.” She said if the EC finds any shortcomings in the functioning of an officer,it should inform the Government,which will then take corrective measures.

You thanked us in ‘07: EC to Maya
NEW DELHI: The Election Commission has stoutly defended the removal of Uttar Pradesh Principal Secretary (Home) Fateh Bahadur Singh even as Chief Minister Mayawati on Wednesday launched a virulent attack on the EC for its decision.

“We are guided by the ‘perception of neutrality’; we are not a court where concrete evidence must be produced before any action can be taken. More so,the said official was holding important positions of Principal Secretary (Home) and (Personnel),” EC sources said on Wednesday. The EC order followed a visit of the three-member poll panel to Lucknow in March to oversee poll preparations where it was petitioned by Opposition parties on “partial conduct of some officers in the state government”.

On Mayawati’s charges of “unjustified action by EC”,senior Commission officials pointed out that on the eve of 2007 Assembly elections in the state,the poll panel had ordered transfer of a range of top officials in the state,which prompted Mayawati to “profusely thank the Commission”.

Asked about her specific charge that the removal was unjustified,deputy Election Commissioner R Balakrishnan refused to comment. “The Commission does not want to give any comment on it,” he said.

EC sources said more than 10 Collector-level officers and even DGPs and Chief Secretaries in a couple of states have been removed following the principle of ‘perception of neutrality’ since the announcement of elections so far.