Officials “relieved of election duties” at the best of the Election Commission face an uncertain future, though it has become quite common for opposition parties to name and accuse certain officials of “working in favour of the ruling party”. In Andhra Pradesh, around 20 officers have been suspended due to various reasons. So, official circles are wondering whether officials can really change the fate of political parties during elections. The opposition parties are claiming that the suspended officials had been working in favour of the ruling YSRCP. The larger question in bureaucratic circles is: When the Election Commission is supposed to be observing everything, how can officials work in favour of one political party? Besides, even if they prefer to do it, can they change the mind of the public? Since in most cases, ‘suspension’ involves just relieving the named (and, therefore, tainted) officials of election duties, their future hangs in balance. If the ruling party retains power, they may get plum posts. If the opposition alliance wins, they could be sidelined and given insignificant posts. On the whole, it looks like ‘election duties’ come bundled with headache.