IPS officers association in AP appeals to EC on 'malicious' propaganda against them

Amaravati: The Andhra Pradesh IPS officers association on Saturday made a representation to the Chief Election Commissioner in which they claimed leaders from NDA in the state were indulging in a sustained misinformation propaganda to tarnish their reputation.

It observed leaders of TDP, BJP and Janasena were making baseless allegations against the members of the Indian Police Service (IPS) as part of a malicious campaign.

They took the names of TDP leader V Ramaiah, state BJP chief D Purandeswari and others, along with the names of some media houses and also cited specific news articles.

"In the last two months, more than 30 IPS officers of Andhra Pradesh cadre have suffered because of the orchestrated propaganda being made by such vested groups. The sustained negative propaganda...was well orchestrated by political parties and media houses," said the officials in a letter addressed to the CEC.

Identifying a pattern in their modus operandi, the All India Service (AIS) officers noted initially some political leaders come up with wild allegations and make a representation to the Election Commission.

Later, the parties address the media to talk ill about the police by alleging corruption, partisan attitude, inefficiency and others, which get amplified in certain media houses and later made viral on social media through the handles of those respective parties and leaders.

The police officers highlighted that false petitions devoid of supporting evidence is demoralising the police force.

Recently, the poll panel stripped a bunch of district collectors and superintendents of police (SP) of election duties and the officers attributed this development as a success of the maligning done by those vested interests.

As police officers are bound by the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), the officials said there are limitations for them to refute or counter such a continuous onslaught.

"Instead of representing to the Election Commission on matters related to the conduct of the elections in a free and fair manner, they are unfortunately trying to defame the officers so as to keep them in a defensive mode and to influence the Election Commission accordingly," the officers' association said.

Recalling the yeoman services rendered by the Andhra Pradesh police in battling Left Wing Extremism (LWE), terrorism, organised crime and other unlawful activities, along with humanitarian aid during floods and Covid-19 pandemic, the IPS officers said the department is selfless to safeguard the interests of the society.

Claiming that unfounded accusations have the potential to disrupt the electoral process by diverting attention from substantive issues, especially at a time when Maoists gave a call to boycott polls, the police officers appealed to the Election Commission to initiate appropriate measures in curbing such malicious propaganda against them.

As many as 19 IPS officers sent individual letters to the Election Commission calling for action while Vijayawada police commissioner Kanthi Ratan Tata personally met the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) and submitted the representation.

Assembly elections will be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls in Andhra Pradesh on May 13.

Inputs from PTI