Former chief secretary Nilam Sawhney is all set to replace incumbent Ramesh Kumar as the next State Election Commissioner of Andhra Pradesh on March 31.
The Andhra Pradesh government, on Saturday, accepted Sawhney's resignation from the post of principal advisor to Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy, paving way for her new assignment. Her name was approved for the SEC post earlier.
Sawhney, a 1984 batch IAS officer, was appointed as the Chief Secretary in November 2019 and was given two extensions based on Reddy's request to the centre. She continued in the state's top bureaucrat seat till December 31, 2020, and was later appointed as the CM's principal advisor with cabinet minister rank.
In April last year, the Reddy government had abruptly removed Kumar, a retired IAS officer, from the office that conducts the local body elections. The move was following Kumar's decision to postpone the panchayat and municipal polls scheduled in March second half by six weeks in the wake of the Covid-19 spread.
CM Reddy had then even accused SEC Kumar of functioning unilaterally and in a partisan manner. Kumar was appointed during the tenure of previous CM Chandrababu Naidu.
After a legal battle that even reached the Supreme Court, Kumar was reinstated in July on the directions of the Andhra Pradesh High Court.
Kumar conducted the local polls in February and March, even as the YSRCP objected. The ruling party, however, swept both the elections.
The mandal and zilla parishad polls are now pending in Andhra Pradesh.
CM Reddy made Sawhney the Chief Secretary, in sudden replacement of L V Subramanyam, with whom he reportedly developed differences.
Published 27 March 2021, 14:12 IST