Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary transferred

In a dramatic development, the Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh, L.V Subrahmanyam, was transferred on Monday and he was posted as the Director-General of HRD Centre, Bapatla. He was instructed to hand over charge to Neerab Kumar Prasad, another senior IAS official, forthwith.

The transfer order was issued by Pravin Prakash, Principal Secretary (General Administration Department), according to sources. Sources said there was lack of co-ordination between the two senior IAS officials, Chief Secretary Subrahmanyam, and Pravin Prakash. A show-cause notice was issued to the latter by Subrahmanyam four days ago, asking him to explain himself regarding a GO issued relating to business rules and also regarding the inclusion of certain issues on the agenda for the Cabinet meeting.

The State Government took the dramatic decision on Monday in the backdrop, it is said. In fact, Subrahmanyam's predecessor, Punetha, was also transferred in controversial circumstances before the General and Assembly elections in the State by the Election Commission on the ground that the then chief secretary had not followed its instructions. The former Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, made it an election issue, stating that the Election Commission's action was not warranted.

L.V Subrahmanyam was said to be close to the present Chief Minister, Y.S Jaganmohan Reddy, as well as his late father, Y.S Rajasekhara Reddy, when the latter was the Chief Minister in the undivided state of Andhra Pradesh. Subrahmanyam was named by the CBI in one of the cases filed against the present Chief Minister, Jaganmohan Reddy, relating to an alleged economic offence, but he filed a discharge petition in the AP High Court. The High Court accepted his plea and he was subsequently given a posting in Andhra Pradesh after the State bifurcation. He has only five months and 26 days of service left and his sudden transfer came as a surprise.

In response to the development, Pawan Kalyan, Janasena leader and film star, said it was "incomprehensible as to why the Government had taken such a decision. The YSR Congress Government brought in Subrahmanyam as the Chief Secretary and now suddenly he has been transferred for reasons best known to the Government. It means that there is something wrong and many irregularities are taking place."

K. Lakshminaryana, State BJP unit chief, said "it exposed once again the dictatorial style of functioning of Jaganmohan Reddy. If any one disagrees with him, he takes it as a personal insult and cannot bear it. Otherwise, it is quite inexplicable."