The Maharashtra Congress has questioned the appointment of Baldev Singh as the State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), alleging that a probe on the directions of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) was going on for the alleged irregularities in Santacruz Electronics Export Processing Zone (SEEPZ) when he was heading it.

Mr. Singh, however, rubbished the allegations saying that the case referred to is from the period before he took charge at SEEPZ. Addressing a press conference on Friday, State Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant alleged that Mr. Singh was facing an inquiry initiated by the CVC and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce was probing allegations of irregularity in SEEPZ Special Economic Zone..

“Despite the ongoing probe, the Devendra Fadnavis government appointed Mr. Singh as the CEO of Maharashtra in July 2019, just ahead of the Assembly polls. This has raised serious questions about the role of the Election Commission,” Mr. Sawant said.

The Congressman asked why the credentials of the CEO were not cross-checked while appointing him and sought to know if there was any “pressure from the Bharatiya Janata Party”.

However, the CEO Maharashtra official Twitter handle said, “It is very sad, mischievous and misleading, the way facts are tried to be presented. These are absolutely false and untrue and incorrect allegations.”