Thiruvananthapuram, May 23: Controversy erupted in Keralam on Saturday after the UDF government appointed State Chief Electoral Officer Rathan U Kelkar as Secretary to Chief Minister V D Satheesan, drawing sharp criticism from the BJP and triggering a political war of words over institutional neutrality.
According to a government notification, “Dr Rathan U Kelkar IAS (KL 2003), Chief Electoral Officer, Kerala and Secretary, Election Department, is transferred and posted as Secretary to the Chief Minister.”
The BJP questioned the appointment, citing previous remarks made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on the independence of the Election Commission. The party alleged that Kelkar’s posting was a “reward” for the Congress-led UDF’s sweeping victory in the Keralam Assembly elections.
Taking a swipe at the Congress, the Keralam BJP unit said in a Facebook post that if Rahul Gandhi’s earlier arguments were to be followed, Kelkar’s appointment should be viewed as a political reward linked to the Congress victory in the state. The party accused the Congress of engaging in “misleading politics.”
BJP leader Amit Malviya also criticised the move and accused Rahul Gandhi of “selective outrage.” Referring to Gandhi’s criticism of the BJP government in West Bengal over the appointment of Manoj Kumar Agarwal as Chief Secretary, Malviya argued that the West Bengal government had followed established service norms by appointing the senior-most IAS officer in the state.
He contrasted that with the Keralam government’s decision, noting that Rathan U Kelkar, a 2003-batch IAS officer, was not the senior-most officer in the cadre and was being appointed to the Chief Minister’s office while continuing as the state’s Chief Electoral Officer. Malviya questioned whether Rahul Gandhi’s concerns over institutional propriety depended on which political party was in power.
The controversy comes shortly after the Congress-led UDF secured a decisive mandate in the Keralam Assembly elections, winning 102 seats. The Congress emerged as the single largest party with 63 seats, following which V D Satheesan took oath as the new Chief Minister of KeralamBottom of Form
