Political row in Kerala over appointment of poll officer as CM's secretary

A political row erupted in Kerala over the appointment of state CEO Rathan U Kelkar as secretary to Chief Minister V D Satheesan, with parties accusing the Congress of hypocrisy.

A political row erupted in Kerala on Saturday over the appointment of state CEO Rathan U Kelkar as secretary to Chief Minister V D Satheesan, with the BJP and CPI(M) accusing the Congress of ''hypocrisy'' citing its earlier criticism against similar appointments in BJP-ruled states.

While the CPI(M) alleged that the move raises serious questions over the credibility of the recent Assembly elections, the BJP accused the Congress of being a ''hypocrite''.

However, the grand-old party rejected the charges, saying that there is ''no politics'' behind the appointment of the officer and it is the prerogative of the government.

Kelkar, a 2003-batch IAS officer, had supervised the recent Kerala Assembly election process as the state's CEO.

According to a government order, ''Rathan U Kelkar IAS (KL 2003), Chief Electoral Officer, Kerala and Secretary, Election Department, is transferred and posted as Secretary to the Chief Minister.''.

After the government order in this regard came out, the Marxist party's state secretariat issued a strongly-worded statement stating that Kerala had never witnessed such an appointment immediately after an election and raising suspicion about whether it was a ''reward'' for services rendered.

The CPI(M) alleged that several actions of the Election Commission during the assembly polls appeared ''biased and suspicious'' in favour of the UDF and claimed the latest appointment strengthened doubts about ''planned interference'' behind various controversies linked to the election process.

The Left party referred to issues, including the alleged appearance of a BJP seal instead of the Election Commission's seal in a communication to political parties, large-scale deletion of voters under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, delay in releasing polling percentage figures and complaints regarding strong rooms.

The CPI(M) further alleged that both the BJP-led Centre and the Congress-led Kerala government were undermining the neutrality and credibility of the Election Commission through political interference.

Senior CPI(M) leader and former minister P Rajeev urged that the Congress national leadership should explain its stand on appointing the Chief Electoral Officer as the Chief Minister's secretary in Kerala.

While talking to reporters in Kochi, Rajeev said the appointment in Kerala was made even as Rahul Gandhi had raised allegations regarding the appointment of a former election official in West Bengal and termed the issue a ''very serious matter''.

He further alleged that Kelkar's appointment was made without even observing a ''cooling period'', which, according to him, was generally expected in such cases.

Reacting to the development, senior BJP leader K Surendran accused the Congress of double standards in matters concerning appointments involving election officials.

''In West Bengal, when the BJP did the same, it was described as a reward for vote theft. But in Kerala, when V D Satheesan does this, it becomes the beauty of democracy. Rahul Gandhi and company are the biggest hypocrites,'' Surendran said in a social media post.

The criticism by the BJP and the CPI(M) comes in the backdrop of Gandhi attacking the BJP government in West Bengal earlier over the appointment of former state Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal as chief secretary after the change in government there.

Gandhi had then alleged collusion between the BJP and the Election Commission and remarked that ''the bigger the theft, the bigger the reward''.

Responding to the criticism, KPCC president and state Power Minister Sunny Joseph said there is no politics behind Kelkar's appointment.

State Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala also defended the appointment of the IAS officer and said the government was fully empowered to appoint capable officers to key administrative posts.

''The appointment of Kelkar as the chief minister's secretary is the prerogative of the government. He is a competent officer, and the government has the authority to recall and appoint him. There is nothing unusual in it,'' Chennithala told reporters.