As many as 56 retired IAS, IFS, IPS and IRS officers have written to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) requesting to withdraw the recognition of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), alleging blatant efforts by the party to politicise civil servants.

The letter has been signed by Karnataka’s former Additional Chief Secretary M. Madan Gopal, Kerala’s former Chief Secretary Anand Bose, former Ambassador Niranjan Desai, and ex-Andhra Pradesh DGP Umesh Kumar, among others.

The letter cited Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal’s press conference in Rajkot on September 3, in which “he had repeatedly appealed to Gujarat government’s public servants to work in tandem with the AAP to ensure its victory in the Assembly elections”.

The retired bureaucrats pointed out that a public servant’s responsibility is to work for the betterment of the public and security of the people.

“It seems the AAP has forgotten that public servants do not owe any allegiance to political parties,” the letter read.

According to the former bureaucrats, it was not a casual misstep or stray error, but a deliberate and calculated appeal made by the AAP with an intention of utilising government machinery for one’s own political victory.

They demanded that AAP’s recognition should be withdrawn because it has breached the model code of conduct and is also in grave violation of the provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

(The story has been published via a syndicated feed with a modified headline.)