The party Sravan alleged that the appointment of Somesh Kumar as Chief Secretary of Telangana was irregular and done in total violation of the rules.
AICC national spokesperson Dasoju Sravan alleged today that the appointment of IAS officer Somesh Kumar as Chief Secretary of Telangana was irregular and done in total violation of the rules.
He expressed suspicion that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar might have elevated Somesh Kumar to the top post in a quid pro quo arrangement.
Sravan said that Somesh Kumar, a 1989 batch IAS officer, was made the Chief Secretary by being promoted over 15 other more senior IAS officers. They included B P Acharya (of the 1983 batch), Ajay Mishra (1984), Suresh Chanda, Chitra Ramachandran, Pushpa Subramanyam and Hiralal Samariya (now with GoI, of the 1985 batch), Rajeshwar Tewari (1986), R R Mishra and Vasudha Mishra (GoI, 1987), Aadhar Sinha, Shalini Mishra and Sri Lakshmi (1988), Rani Kumudini (GoI, 1988) and Shanti Kumari (1989).
Sravan said that the move would demoralise all the affected officials, who would find it difficult to work under a junior.
He also said that all set precedents, norms and rules pertaining to promotion of IAS officials had been violated. He suspected the appointment to be a quid pro quo with Somesh Kumar, as when he was Commissioner of GHMC, Kumar had allegedly helped the TRS win the municipal elections in February 2016, after deletion of more than 15 lakh voters, inclusion of fake voters, reorganisation and reservation of wards in a partisan manner and other irregularities.
He said that the Congress had lodged a strong protest against the discrepancies and irregularities committed while Somesh Kumar was heading the GHMC as its Commissioner. The appointment of Kumar as Chief Secretary indicated that those allegations might be true, he said.
The AICC spokesperson added that KCR had appointed Kumar to the top post despite the fact that he belonged to the Andhra cadre, and that it was unfair on the part of KCR to neglect Telangana cadre officials to favour an Andhra cadre IAS officer. As per the Andhra Pradesh Reorgansisation Act Kumar should have been sent to residuary AP, but had secured a stay from the Central Administration Tribunal and continued in Telangana. The Chief Minister had contended that Somesh Kumar would bring stability in governance as he would be in service till December 31, 2023 - how could KCR anoint as Chief Secretary an official who was serving on the basis of a CAT stay, Saravan asked. Would it not cause instability if the CAT vacated the stay?
Sravan said that KCR had the prerogative to appoint anyone to political posts, but that he should not politicise the Executive by mending rules to favour certain IAS/IPS officials.
He also alleged that the Chief Minister's Office had turned an asylum for retired AIS officers. As many as eight retired IAS and IPS officials were serving as Advisors to the Telangana government, he pointed out. KCR was thus sending a silent message that he could benefit officers who listened to him during service, even after their retirement.