BJP targets Kerala govt over reports on appointment of poll officer as CM's secretary

The BJP on Saturday criticised the reported appointment of state CEO Rathan U Kelkar as secretary to Kerala Chief Minister V D Satheesan, alleging a contradiction in the Congress party's stand on similar appointments made in BJP-ruled states.

Kelkar, a 2003 batch IAS officer, had supervised the recent Kerala Assembly election process as the state's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO).

Reacting to the media reports in this regard, senior BJP leader K Surendran accused the Congress of adopting double standards on appointments involving election officials.

''In West Bengal, when the BJP did the same, it was described as a reward for vote theft. But in Kerala, when V D Satheesan does this, it becomes the beauty of democracy. Rahul and company are the biggest hypocrites,'' Surendran said in a social media post.

The BJP leader's criticism comes in the backdrop of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attacking the BJP government in West Bengal earlier over the appointment of former state Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal as chief secretary after the change in government there.

Gandhi had then alleged collusion between the BJP and the Election Commission and remarked that ''the bigger the theft, the bigger the reward''.

Responding to the criticism, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, however, defended the appointment and said the government was fully empowered to appoint capable officers to key administrative posts.

''The appointment of Rathan Kelkar as the chief minister's secretary is the prerogative of the government. He is a competent officer, and the government has the authority to recall and appoint him. There is nothing unusual in it,'' Chennithala told reporters here.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)