Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 1 (IANS): Veteran bureaucrat and IAS officer Teeka Ram Meena, who retired as additional chief secretary- Economic and Planning Affairs on Monday after putting in 34 years of service in Kerala, rated Pinarayi Vijayan as the best chief minister and A.K.Antony the most disappointing.

Meena shot into prominence during his stint as the Chief Electoral Officer for three years till July last, for being a tough task master and taking bold steps against bogus voting and the wrongdoers.

Hailing from Rajasthan, Meena said he is overwhelmed as Kerala and its people have given him lots of cherished moments in his official career.

And opening up on his experience to a vernacular TV channel on his working with various Chief Ministers, Meena rated Pinarayi Vijayan as the best.

"No doubt, Pinarayi Vijayan was the best as he gave freedom and especially in the Planning Board we used to speak out and he used to listen and that's what's required. K.Karunakaran was tough, but Antony was the most disappointing," said Meena.

On senior bureaucrat M.Sivasankar's involvement in the infamous gold smuggling case, Meena said termed it "quite unfortunate" and said "we don't know the truth".

"He was a good officer and people were sad and surprised to hear about it," said Meena.

He said that he will not be able to just ignore Kerala as he was here for 34 long years.

Incidentally in Kerala, there is a practice of giving a respectful 'post' to senior IAS officers who superannuate by the political bosses. The most recent high profile appointment was that of retiring Chief Secretary Vishwas Mehta, when he was made the chief information commissioner last year.