UP chief secy acted like BSP man: EC

In a communication to Mishra,EC Principal Secretary RK Srivastava has stated,“The commission has noted with concern that although the copy of the complaint petition of Sri Mishra was addressed to you,with a copy to the Election Commission,you,instead of just forwarding a copy of the same to the Commission,have taken a lot of pain in explaining the philosophy and stand of the ruling party.

“The letter has given an impression that you have acted like a functionary of a party rather than a government officer’’,it said.

Srivastava added that the Commission has “strongly felt” that the Chief Secretary had “transgressed the limit of a civil servant,which is totally unacceptable.”

“The commission shall take very serious note in case of recurrence of this kind,” it cautioned.

Meanwhile,the chief secretary has informed the commission that the government has not found statues of any living political leader other than Chief Minister Mayawati,nor party symbols installed or constructed at the government expense at public places.

The statues of Mayawati and the elephant,which is the BSP symbol,have already been covered in memorials and parks following the EC order of January 8. The chief secretary sent the information on Wednesday in response to an EC communication seeking details of statues of other living political leaders,or symbols installed at public places at the expense of the state government.

The BSP,while questioning the EC order to cover the statues,had demanded similar action regarding the bicycle and the hand-pump,which are symbols of the Samajwadi Party and RLD respectively.