New Delhi, Nov 18 (PTI) Hours after being removed as an observer for the Gujarat assembly polls for indulging in a “publicity stunt” by posting pictures of his assignment on social media, a UP cadre IAS officer said on Friday that his post was neither publicity nor a stunt.
In a strongly-worded letter to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Gujarat on Friday, the Election Commission (EC) said Abhishek Singh-I, a 2011-batch officer, used Instagram for sharing his posting as a general observer and used his official position as a “publicity stunt”.
In a tweet, Singh said he accepts the EC’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,” he tweeted from his verified personal account.
The poll panel has shared with the CEO pictures uploaded by the officer on the social media platform, sources said.
Citing the EC communication, the sources said the poll panel took “a very serious view” of the matter and relieved Singh immediately of his duties as a general observer.
Singh describes himself as a public servant, actor and a social entrepreneur on his Twitter handle. He had posted the same set of pictures on his Twitter handle on Thursday too.
He has also been debarred from any election-related duty till further orders. The officer was also directed to immediately leave the constituency of which he was given the responsibility and report to his nodal officer in the parent cadre.
All government facilities provided to him to facilitate the discharge of his observer duties be withdrawn, the letter said, according to the sources.
Another IAS officer has been given the additional charge of Bapunagar and Asarwa assembly seats in Ahmedabad district Singh was handling, they said. PTI NAB ANB ANB
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
Source: The Print
