Chief Minister N. Rangasamy on Friday said that he would lodge an official complaint with Election Commission of India (ECI) against Ministry of Home Affairs’ (MHA) decision to appoint a new Chief Secretary to the Puducherry government, when the Model Code of Conduct had already come into effect for the general elections.
While confirming that he had received a panel of names of three Indian Administrative Officers (IAS) to choose for appointment, in the place of incumbent Chetan B. Sanghi, Mr. Rangasamy told The Hindu at the Assembly building here said he had not asked the Centre to transfer the Chief Secretary, who was yet to complete one year in office.
Taking strong exception to the Centre’s move, he said there was no need to transfer the Chief Secretary-level official when the Model Code of Conduct was in force. It was against the democratic norms and it was a clear case of code violations.
Claiming that the MHA had acted based on a “pressure group”, Mr. Rangasamy said an influential Central Minister from Puducherry had been putting continuous pressure to transfer the new Chief Secretary, as the Minister didn’t want to implement welfare and infrastructural schemes, which had gained momentum in Puducherry in recent months. Though he was allowed a period of 14 days to choose a name, he said he would not take any decision in a hurry.
He added that he would also write to the Central government and the Union Home Secretary to cancel the process of transferring the Chief Secretary.
