NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday criticised Kerala’s newly elected Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government over the appointment of the state’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Rathan U Kelkar as secretary to chief minister VD Satheesan.The BJP also targeted Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, citing his earlier remarks on the appointment of Manoj Agarwal — who oversaw the West Bengal assembly elections — as chief secretary in the BJP government formed after the polls, the party’s first in the eastern state.“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,” a Kerala government order said.Reacting to the move, the BJP Kerala unit posted on Facebook: “Ratan Kelkar, the former Chief Electoral Officer of Kerala, has been appointed as the Secretary to Chief Minister VD Satheesan. According to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s logic, Ratan Kelkar’s appointment should be seen as a reward for the huge victory achieved by the Congress in Kerala. The Congress should stop this kind of politics that misleads the people.”BJP IT cell chief and West Bengal co-incharge Amit Malviya also criticised the appointment.In a post on X, Malviya said: “Rahul Gandhi’s selective outrage stands exposed yet again. He chose to criticise West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari for appointing Shri Manoj Agarwal as Chief Secretary. But unlike Mamata Banerjee, who repeatedly subverted the bureaucracy by superseding dozens of IAS officers to favour loyalists, the BJP government in West Bengal appointed the senior-most IAS officer serving in the state, strictly in accordance with established norms and service rules.”
Should the government prioritize institutional neutrality in appointing officials like the Chief Electoral Officer?
“Now compare that with Congress-ruled Kerala. Ratan U Kelkar, a 2003-batch Kerala cadre IAS officer who is not even the senior-most officer in the state, is being appointed Secretary to Chief Minister V D Satheean while continuing as Kerala’s Chief Electoral Officer, a position that demands institutional neutrality and independence. So where is Rahul Gandhi’s sermon on institutional propriety now? Or does his outrage depend entirely on which party is in power?” he added.The UDF won 102 seats in the April 9 assembly polls, of which the Congress won 63 seats. On the other hand, the BJP won three seats.
