When senior IPS officer A B Venkateshwara Rao was the Director General of Police (Intelligence) in Andhra Pradesh government, he used to report directly to Telugu Desam Party president and chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, even when there was a model code of conduct in force for the elections.
Following a complaint from YSR Congress party that Venkateshwara Rao was acting like a TDP agent and targeting the opposition, the Election Commission immediately shifted him from the post and replaced him with another senior IPS officer Kumar Vishwajeet on March 31. After the elections, Rao was appointed as DGP of Anti-Corruption Bureau.
Now, Vishwajeet, being an intelligence chief, has to report to the chief minister directly, as per the norms, but chief electoral officer Gopala Krishna Dwivedi apparently instructed him not to report to Naidu, but to newly appointed chief secretary L V Subrahmanyam directly.
This has infuriated Naidu. On Friday, he dashed off a nine-page strongly worded letter to the Chief Election Commissioner questioning the authority of the CEO.
“Dwivedi told the media that the chief minister does not have the power to conduct review meetings when the model code of conduct in force. He also directed ADG (Intelligence) not to report to me. This is nothing but exceeding his jurisdiction,” he said.
Naidu pointed out that there was no such provision in the model code of conduct that intelligence chief should not report to the CM.
“Intelligence chief directly works under the control of the chief minister. How can he not report to me? I am a democratically elected chief minister and not a caretaker CM,” he said.
He asked whether the EC had also directed Intelligence Bureau Director and the National Security Advisor not to meet and brief Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Why are these discriminating orders being issued only in case of Andhra Pradesh? The EC has no authority to bar an elected government from discharging its duties," he said.
He pointed out that the Modi government had held a cabinet meeting on April 15 despite the model code of conduct being in force and even today, regular security briefings and meetings were taking place at the central level.
“Even the chief minister of Telangana is conducting review meetings regularly", he pointed out.
He said since there is a large gap of 42 days before the results are announced on May 23, the normal administration cannot be allowed to come to a standstill.
"Since the electorate has already exercised their franchise, the EC has no jurisdiction to stop any review meeting or briefing," he said.
