Enforcing the Code S. Nagesh Kumar
Hyderabad
| Andhra Pradesh's top cop has instilled fear in law-breakers and confidence in voters |
DGP A. K. Mohanty.
Twenty crore rupees may be loose change for political parties with their large campaign coffers. But it is a huge sum of money, considering that all of it was seized by the Andhra Pradesh police in the space of 10 days.
Sustained cordon-and-search operations, sustained vigils at highway check-posts and raids on places where candidates store cash have yielded this booty — a cache that does not include lorry loads of liquor.
Leading the charge to prevent well-heeled candidates from bribing voters with cash and liquor is Director General of Police A. K. Mohanty.
Just three weeks into his job, Andhra Pradesh's top cop has already earned a reputation of not buckling under political pressure. He has launched a major pre-election drive of instilling fear in law-breakers and confidence in voters. Even motor vehicles purchased by party candidates and given to followers are being verified, and information passed on to election observers.
The 2009 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh have been described by some as the most expensive in India. Some of the country's wealthiest candidates such as Chief Minister Y.S. Rajashekara Reddy's son Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and film star K. Chiranjeevi are in the fray. Nama Nageswara Rao of the Telugu Desam leads the wealth race with declared assets of Rs. 172 crore.
Mr. Mohanty was recently asked in an interview: Isn't Rs. 20 crore only the tip of the iceberg, since an estimated Rs. 1,000 crore will be splurged on the elections?
"There is no way we can seize all this money. We can only prevent flow of cash and create difficulty for commissioning an offence. It will surely impact the distribution of cash and knock off the feeling among some candidates that they can get away with anything," he replied.
Making things difficult for candidates is the easy part of Mr. Mohanty's job. Enforcing the election code strictly mean taking on the high and mighty. One such instance is that of Anil Kumar, an evangelist and son-in-law of Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy. He had to surrender to the police in Khammam for distributing pamphlets inside a church lauding the Congress government's achievements. APCC president D. Srinivas is under the scanner for making an inflammatory speech in Nizamabad.
This no-nonsense officer says he is not unduly worried about taking on the big and powerful. "I am discharging my professional duties in consonance with the laws of the land. I am a professional policeman. I want policemen to stop and search even my car at the checkpost. My mission is to strengthen policing to ensure free and fair elections. We can do this by strengthening basic policing like patrolling, checking and surveillance," he said.
Mr. Mohanty indeed has to prove himself as the Election Commission selected him from among a panel of three IPS officers for the DGP's post, after replacing the incumbent for praising the Chief Minister. It brushed aside objections by the Congress party's political ally, Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) that Mr. Mohanty had harassed Muslims when he was Hyderabad Police Commissioner, a post from which he was unceremoniously transferred.
Will he pursue his goal of policing with the same zeal even after the elections? "As long as I am here, I have a responsibility to discharge. What requires to be done will be done", the DGP says.
Regards,Natarajan
"Hesitating to act because the whole vision might not be achieved, or because others do not yet share it, is an attitude that only hinders progress." - Mahatma
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