It’s
very rarely that a State gets an officer of the quality and caliber of
Naresh Gupta, the Chief Electoral Officer, Tamil Nadu. A true Gandhian in
thoughts, words and action, he believes in simple living and high thinking.
He has no desire for luxury or pompousness. He strictly goes by the rules in
the text book. His intake of food is a small quantity. There are days during
the election when he skips his lunch or/and dinner. He practices Yoga and
Dhyana on a daily basis. He acquired his M A in Gandhian thoughts through
correspondence.
And Karunanidhi has openly accused him of partisanship, of encouraging
voters to behave in favour of a particular political party. The Chief
Minister did not stop there. He said that the CEO was an IAS officer
belonging to the State cadre, appointed to the post for a specified tenure.
He had to return to the State cadre on completion of this tenure and was
paid by the State government.
Mr. Karunanidhi said the CEO had not called on him even once after he
became Chief Minister in 2006.
I think this is the ‘most unkindest cut of all’. The State has a culture
of submissive, ‘yours most obedient’ IAS officers and it is natural that the
Chief Minister expects all IAS officials to fall in line.
Naresh Gupta has disputed Mr Karunanidhi's assertion that he was
appointed by the state government as CEO for a specific period. He was
appointed under the Representation of People's Act and drew 50 per cent of
salary from the Centre and the balance 50 per cent from the state
government.
Mr Gupta said he did not call on the Chief Minister after the DMK came to
power in May 2006 as per the Election Commission policy. ''I did not even
call on the previous Chief Minister (Ms J Jayalalithaa),'' he said.
I feel the Chief Minister ought not to have dragged the CEO in an
unseemly controversy and that too on the eve of General Elections.
HR