Senior IAS officer K Kanna Babu had assumed office of the secretary to the State Election Commission on Saturday.
The government had appointed Kanna Babu as secretary after SEC Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar had cleared his name from the panel of three officers consisting of GSRKR Vijaya Kumar, Raja Babu and Kanna Babu.
Earlier, Nimmagadda had surrendered G Vani Mohan to the state government, who was by then holding the office of the SEC secretary.
Nimmagadda had picked up senior officer M Ravichandra as secretary and sent orders to the state government.
However, the state government reacted swiftly and posted Ravichandra as special officer for Covid 19 vaccination, and gave Nimmagadda the panel of three names.
Having lost the opportunity of appointing the officer of his choice for the post of secretary, Nimmagadda, who is currently in Rayalaseema tour, had cleared the name of Kanna Babu.
Kanna Babu took charge on Saturday, without waiting for Nimmagadda to come back to the office.
