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Abhishek Singh had been appointed as the General Observer for Gujarat’s Bapunagar and Asarwa Assembly constituencies. Photo: Instagram/abhishek_as_it_is
Taking “a very serious view” of what it termed a “publicity stunt”, the Election Commission of India (EC) on Friday directed the Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) to immediately relieve an Uttar Pradesh-cadre IAS officer from the post of General Observer for the upcoming Assembly elections.
Abhishek Singh, a 2011-batch officer, was relieved for posting multiple pictures where he can be seen posing in front of an official vehicle bearing a plaque declaring his status as General Observer on his Instagram account, according to EC sources.
Mr. Singh, who had been appointed as the General Observer for Gujarat’s Bapunagar and Asarwa Assembly constituencies located in the Ahmedabad district, was directed to “immediately” leave the poll-bound State which goes to the polls in two phases on December 1 and 5 – and report to his parent cadre.
EC sources said the 2010-batch Karnataka cadre officer Krishan Bajpai will now also oversee the Assembly constituencies apart from the ones originally assigned to him.
The Commission, according to sources, had taken “a very serious view” of the matter and, in addition to relieving him as Observer, also debarred him from any election-related duties till further orders.
In response to the incident, Mr. Singh has tweeted: “I accept the Hon’ble ECI’s decision with all humility. Though I believe there’s nothing wrong in this post. A public servant, in a car bought by public’s money, reporting for public duty, with public officials, communicating it to the public. It is neither publicity nor a stunt!”
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