Hyderabad: C. Parthasarathi IAS., (Retd) today assumed charge as the new State Election Commissioner (SEC) today. At a function in the SEC office, he took charge after a traditional Puja ceremony. Later in a statement, he stressed the importance of elections in a democratic setup. He thanked the Governor, Chief Minister, and the government for giving him an opportunity for serving the state in the capacity of SEC and thrusting an onerous responsibility of conducting free and fair local body elections as per the timelines enshrined in the constitution.
C. Parthasarathi sought that the cooperation of the Governor, Chief Secretary, State Government, DGP, District Election Machinery for discharging his duties without any prejudice duly protecting the autonomy of the commission. He said that he will strive for upholding the dignity of the state election commission (SEC). While elections to Panchayat Raj local bodies are complete, he said that he would strive to conduct elections to some urban local bodies as per the constitution with the cooperation of the state government.
As the term of the GHMC ends on February 10, 2021, holding the GHMC elections will be the foremost priority, Parthasarathi said and added that he would shortly convene a meeting with Great Hyderabad Municipal Corporation officials and formulate an action plan in this regard. After Great Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, elections to Great Warangal Municipal Corporation will be held on March 21, 2021, while Khammam and Siddipet Municipalities elections will be held in April 21,20121 he stated.
Parthasarathi State Election Commissioner informed that he will go through the safety guidelines on Covid 19 which are issued by the Election Commission of India and then take steps to conduct the elections for some local bodies in rural and urban areas that are pending.
Earlier, Parthasarathi IAS was received by the State Election Commissioners Joint Secretary Jaisimha Reddy, officials, and staff of the SEC. A meeting was held in the SEC office to discuss the issues relating to elections to local bodies.
