AP Assembly Privileges Panel To Summon EC Nimmagadda Soon

AMARAVATI: Andhra Pradesh State Election Commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar will be in the dock once again.As per reports the  AP Assembly Privileges Committee met on Wednesday and  had directed the Assembly Secretary to write to Nimmagadda asking him to be available to appear before the panel.

The committee is looking into the privilege notices given by Ministers Botsa Satyanarayana and Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy against Nimmagadda and is headed by Kakani Govardhan Reddy. He had earlier  examined the two complaints and held three rounds of meetings about the complaints.

In the latest meeting, the committee had directed the Assembly Secretary to write to Nimmagadda asking him to be available for the hearing of the committee in future. 

It may be recollected that based on the notices served by  the two senior Cabinet ministers to move a privilege motion against State Election Commissioner (SEC) Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar, Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly Speaker Tammineni Sitaram is said to  have referred the matter to the Privileges Committee.

The Ministers had earlier sent separate notices to the AP Legislative Assembly Speaker for action against the SEC.

In the notices, the Ministers had explained that the SEC made several remarks, which were defamatory in nature and far from the truth in the letter to the Governor. They said that the contents of the letter was being circulated on social media and the allegations levelled against us have caused them great distress and mental anguish.

The ministers took exception to a statement that they had violated the Model Code of Conduct. Alleging that Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar had made several baseless allegations with an ulterior motive to degrade them as MLAs and ministers in the public eye and making allegations without proof amounts to breach of privilege. 

Nimmagadda would have to be appearing before the privileges committee when it summons him, Interestingly the Elections Commissioner has 13 more days of service left as he is due for retirement on March 31, 2021. A point to be noted is that he will have to appear before it even if he retires.