Govt gets Home Secy to replace Krishnamurthy

After President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam put his stamp on the appointment today, sources said, Gopalaswami met Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee to thank him.

The sources added that Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani took the initiative to get the two positions in the Commission filled without any delay as the Government was worried that CEC J.M. Lyngdoh might announce an Andhra Pradesh poll schedule that is not agreeable to either the Centre or the state government.

Significantly, the Centre8217;s decision came on a day when Lyngdoh convened a meeting to discuss the Andhra Pradesh polls. The meeting was turned into a casual session where the members only chatted and congratulated CEC-designate Krishnamurthy.

With the Cabinet likely to take the decision to dissolve the Lok Sabha by February 5, the new EC will now be in place by February 8 to follow up on that decision and announce the poll dates.

Gopalaswami, a 1966-batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer, was to retire as Home Secretary in April. Gopalaswami was Secretary, Culture, before he was hand-picked by the Deputy PM as Home Secretary in 2002.