Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh government recommended the names of three retired IAS officers to Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan to appoint a successor to current State Election Commissioner (SEC) Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar.

Former chief secretary Nilam Sawhney, M. Samuel and L. Premchandra Reddy are the three former bureaucrats recommended.

Currently Sawhney is working as an adviser to Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy while Samuel is playing a role in the Navaratnalu scheme.

Likewise, Premachandra Reddy has also been entrusted with responsibilities with regard to the bifurcation of the state which occurred in 2014.

Once the Governor takes a call on these names and approves one of them, the state government will appoint that person as the new SEC.

Kumar is set to superannuate on March 31 as there continues to be disagreements between him and the government.

The outgoing SEC said that there was not enough time for him to conduct the MPTC and ZPTC polls while the state government wants those elections also to be done away with, riding high on the recent landslide victories in the rural and urban local bodies' polls.

The government is looking at completing the MPTC and ZPTC polls as well once the new SEC arrives and proceed with the gigantic task of intensifying Coronavirus vaccination.