S Viswanath By

Express News Service

VIJAYAWADA: On a day when the State government issued orders attaching entire police department staff, excluding the Intelligence Director General, to the Election Commission on the grounds that the officer was in no way connected with the election-related affairs, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Gopal Krishna Dwivedi sought to know how would police function without any link with the Intelligence wing.

“How can you say that the Intelligence wing has nothing to do with elections when the entire police department is tasked with the responsibility?” he asked.

Dwivedi said his office would put forth its arguments before the AP High Court on behalf of the Election Commission on the IPS officers’ transfers. “When all the issues including deployment of State police, Armed Reserve forces, shifting of election staff and other sensitive issues depend on Intelligence alerts, it’s not correct to say that the Intelligence wing has nothing to do with elections,” he pointed out.

READ HERE: Naidu government defies Election Commission, cancels transfer of Andhra intelligence chief

Interacting with media persons at the Interim Government Complex in Velagapudi on Wednesday, he said the role of the Intelligence wing was relevant even in cases like the murder of former minister YS Vivekananda Reddy and assassination of former MLA Kidari Sarveswara Rao. “The ECI is an autonomous body and, if anyone has any objections to its decision, they can approach the court,’’ Dwivedi clarified.

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