Collector of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath’s home district Chhindwara—Shriniwas Sharma—is likely to be removed, at the directive of the Election Commission of India (ECI) following a BJP complaint against him.
Similarly, ECI axe is likely to fall on Shahdol collector Lalit Dahima, too, who is facing a model code of conduct violation case after state minister Omkar Singh Markam visited his chamber on April 20, ahead of Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s election rally in the district.
also read
- Panel pulls up Centre for failing to give EVM-VVPAT tally data for 2019 Lok Sabha polls
- Defeated by BJP's EVM hacking, party sabotage: Congress candidate
- Gehlot in damage-control mode after blaming Pilot for Jodhpur loss
- 'Priyanka did her job, but party, workers could not rise to occasion'
- EVMs a must for democracy, can't be tampered with: BEL CMD
Sources said that the ECI has already directed removing of the officers and given green signal to the posting of Bharat Yadav (currently MD of Urja Vikas Nigam) and Shekhar Verma (currently director of Bhopal gas tragedy relief and rehabilitation department) as Chhindwara and Shahdol collectors respectively.
However, chief electoral officer of MP, V.L. Kantha Rao told THE WEEK that the ‘matter was under process’.
“I will let know when decision is taken,” Rao said.
The BJP made a complaint against the Chhindwara collector for not allowing the helicopter of ex-chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to take off after 5pm, while he reportedly allowed Chief Minister Kamal Nath’s helicopter to take off after the stipulated time. Though he had got a clean chit in an ECI inquiry, he is likely to be shifted, sources said.
Shahdol collector faces action as the ECI is said to be unhappy with minister Omkar Singh Markam’s reply to its notice saying that he had gone to the collector’s office to discuss preparations of elections. Sources said that the ECI report mentions that the minister summoned other district officers to the collector’s chamber and issued various directives including that of making financial arrangements.
