Kerala Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan on Monday (May 25, 2026) said that “a needless fuss” was being made over the decision to appoint Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Rathan U. Kelkar, till recently Chief Electoral Officer (Kerala), as his Secretary.

Briefing presspersons on decisions taken by the Cabinet, Mr. Satheesan said neither the CPI(M) – which was in power then – nor the BJP had found fault with Mr. Kelkar’s service as CEO.

The only complaints were made from his own office as the then Leader of Opposition. And even those were not targeted Mr. Kelkar at a personal level, he said.

‘Unlike Bengal’

Moreover, the appointment cannot be equated with the appointments in West Bengal where the Trinamool Congress, the Congress and the CPI(M) had levelled serious charges against the West Bengal CEO after the large-scale elimination of names from the electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision, the Chief Minister said.

In Kerala, no such complaints were levelled against the CEO by the Opposition, which at the time, was the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF). No political party has accused him of manipulating the elections. It should also be kept in mind that Mr. Kelkar was appointed as CEO by the then CPI(M)-led LDF government, the Chief Minister said.

“What exactly is the basis of this controversy? He (Mr. Kelkar) is an All India Service (AIS) officer posted in Kerala. The Election Commission of India selects an officer from the panel submitted by the State government and appoints him as CEO for conducting the election. After the election, does the official life of the officer come to an end?” Mr. Satheesan asked.

Mr. Kelkar is “an efficient officer with a good track record” in departments including IT, Environment, Planning and Economic Affairs and Taxes. Since the Chief Minister himself was handling the Finance portfolio, there is nothing extraordinary in the officer’s appointment, he indicated.

Mr. Kelkar had taken charge as Secretary to the Chief Minister on Sunday.