The AP election scene is totally politicised right from day one. Now Chief Secretary LV Subrahmanyam made the issue more complicated. He flouted the election code by openly conducting a review of the election process. Chief Secretary is not vested with powers to supervise the election. This should be done by Chief Electoral Officer Gopala Krishna Dwivedi who apparently surrendered his powers to Chief Secretary.

Maybe, Dwivedi is under pressure to submit to the Chief Secretary under the changed political equations. Everybody knows the Chief Secretary is appointed by the Election Commission which is under the grip of BJP and YCP leaders. Now, the direct supervision of election process by Chief Secretary is giving rise to many doubts whether there’s a bigger conspiracy against the ruling Telugu Desam Party.

The present concern is only about the security of the EVMs which are in strong rooms. The security issue depends a lot on the unbiased functioning of CEO. But Chief Secretary has taken control of election process. He has already talked like he is de facto ruler since the Chief Minister comes under election code. But the fact is that Chief Secretary also comes under the code. Obviously, he draws his present power from the political forces in Delhi.