Somesh Kumar, an IAS officer from 1989, batch has been safely shifted from GHMC as the commissioner and special officer. He was posted as the principal secretary, tribal welfare department. He is probably one of the few IAS officers, who enjoyed enormous political clout in TRS establishment after bifurcation and attracted unprecedented criticism for his proximity to the political bosses.
The shifting of Somesh Kumar took place at a time when the Congress, BJP and TDP were demanding his head for the alleged removal of settlers read Andhras from voter list of GHMC in lakhs. All these parties have represented to the Election Commission of India about the removal ‘hostile’ settler-voters along with some from migrant communities, in order to reduce the negative vote for the ruling party TRS in the ensuing GHMC elections. Following the complaints from these parties, Election Commission has deputed a twelve-member inquiry team led by CEO of West Bengal. The transfer of Somesh Kumar assumes significance when the team has been scrutinizing the voter-list and veracity of deletion of names of the voters.
Somesh Kumar is generally seen as an officer very close to the power that be. It is said that he was the architect of the socio-economic survey conducted by state government, which was alleged to have been planned to locate the persons of Andhra origin. A column was included in the survey that seeks to know the ancestral district of residents of Hyderabad. This column had created unusual uproar both in Hyderabad and Andhra Pradesh. The attempt to find out the ancestral origin attracted criticism even at national level as well. It was perceived by everybody as an attempt to eliminate the names of Andhras (settlers) from the voter list. Finally, the GHMC had to delete the ancestral district column. However,Somesh Kumar remained. Opposition attacked him as an officer working like the member of Pink Party.
Somesh Kumar, many allege, worked hard to facilitate the easy win for the TRS rather than improving the life of citizens in Hyderabad. His tenure in GHMC will remain as period devoid of any noteworthy achievement, however, remembered as politically most controversial.
His attachment to TRS government is so strong that he even challenged the central government’s decision to allot him the state of Andhra Pradesh in the division of All India Service Officers. He has been waging a legal battle against the allotment to stay put in Telangana and has been remaining in TS on a stay from the CAT.
