AP Chief Secretary Jawahar Reddy Goes on Leave; New Appointment Expected Soon

VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary K.S. Jawahar Reddy has gone on leave ahead of the formation of the new government in the state within the next few days.

Jawahar Reddy had been at the centre of several controversies. Some of these went on during the election time.

Sources said Telugu Desam chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu had been unhappy with the chief secretary. His party had gone on to lodge a complaint against Jawahar Reddy with the Election Commission of India, seeking his transfer ahead of the elections for allegedly supporting the YSRC.

After Telugu Desam won the elections, the Chief Secretary met Naidu at the latter’s home in Undavalli and sought support. But the TD chief did not respond.

According to sources, the TD chief is going to take oath as Chief Minister on June 12. Before then, he wants a new chief secretary in place, preferably within a day or two.

Coming to know about this, Jawahar Reddy has gone on leave on Thursday. According to another version, the General Administration Department had sent him a note, suggesting that he go on leave.

Significantly, special chief secretary (Finance) S.S. Rawat has also gone on leave, though on health grounds. Rawat had also been in the list of officials the TD had targetted

Sources said special chief secretary (Energy) K. Vijayanand is likely to be appointed as the new chief secretary. Senior IAS officer Muddada Ravichandra is also uder consideration to be the chief secretary to the new AP CM. Several other officers are also being considered for the CMO's office.

Interestingly, the general administration department (GAD) has issued orders removing all advisers of the state government. The YSRC government had 40 advisors. Their dismissal will be effective from June 4.

Chief secretary (GAD) Suresh Kumar has further repatriated to their parent departments personal secretaries and officers on special duty (OSDs) to the outgoing ministers.

Suresh Kumar instructed these officers to hand over files, records and documents dealt with by the outgoing ministers to the higher officials of the respective departments.