Minister for Panchayat Raj and Rural Development, Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy, dared State Election Commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar to transfer as many officers and employees as he desired.
He reacted sharply to the transfer of Panchayat Raj Principal secretary Gopala Krishna Dwivedi and Commissioner Girija Shankar.
Though the transfer orders were issued on Saturday, they were implemented on Monday following the Supreme Court orders.
Nimmagadda acted against the two senior officers for not complying with his orders after he issued the election schedule and called for video conference.
Minister Ramachandra Reddy said that the government was ready for elections and asserted that it would encourage unanimous elections to the Gram Panchayats as had been the practice.
The government would encourage Gram Panchayats with cash incentives if they were unanimous.
The Minister also said that the senior officers of the department were transferred after initiating the election process. However, he said that the department would work for the elections as directed by the Supreme Court.
The SEC had transferred our senior officers. We are ready to give our best even if some more officers are transferred, the Minister said.
