PANAJI
The Congress in Goa on Tuesday trained its guns on the man who is expected to oversee the 2022 state assembly polls, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Kunal, accusing the latter of bias and questioning his continuance in the post for nearly six years.
"The officer besides being CEO is holding charge over some other government departments as Secretary. It is regrettable that despite expressing serious reservations over the conduct of Kunal in the past, the ECI has failed to take any action to replace him from the position of CEO," Goa Congress president Girish Chodankar said in a letter to the Election Commission of India on Tuesday.
This is not the first time that the Congress has accused the office of the CEO of bias over the last few years.
Chodankar also said that Kunal, who is an officer of the AGMUT cadre had been posted in the state for nearly six years, questioning the longevity of his posting in Goa.
"It is an unfortunate situation wherein Kunal who is from the AGMUT cadre has been posted in Goa since the past six years which is unheard of for officers from the cadre. He has exhibited complete bias in favour of the party inpower and has a prejudiced approach towards Congress," the state Congress president said.
Chodankar also claimed that the Congress, the state's leading opposition party, had lost faith in Kunal's ability to work in a neutral manner during the state assembly elections, which are scheduled to be held in early 2022.
"Hence it is once again re-iterated that further continuation of Kunal as CEO Goa will be a blot on the neutrality of the CEO as such he may be replaced with an officer who will have unflinching loyalty to duty of holding free and fair elections in the state," Chodankar said.
