BRS demands EC to take action against CM for flouting poll code

Hyderabad: Alleging violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy in a meeting of cine industry workers a day before, BRS leaders on Wednesday demanded that the Election Commission of India take suo motu action against the Chief Minister, removing him from the list of star campaigners and including the entire expenditure in the account of Congress candidate Naveen Yadav.

A delegation of BRS leaders led by MLA Gangula Kamalakar and legal cell chief Soma Bharat met the Chief Electoral Officer and complained about the serious and brazen violation of the MCC by the Chief Minister of Telangana.

Pointing out that the Jubilee Hills constituency has several thousand cine industry workers who form a significant part of the electorate, the BRS leaders stated: “The Congress Party and the Chief Minister, with a calculated and criminal intent to influence this specific voter segment, devised a scheme of inducement through promises and assurances, which were clearly barred under the MCC as well as under Section II(1) of Annexure-10, Chapter IV, Para 4.11 of the Handbook for Candidates.”

They cited the rule which states: “Ministers and other authorities shall not announce any financial grants in any form or make promises thereof; or announce any new schemes or projects or lay foundation stones of any project, any ad-hoc appointments Government, public undertakings, etc., which may have the effect of influencing the voters in favour of the party in power."

The BRS leaders said that despite these explicit restrictions, the Chief Minister conducted and participated in a so-called felicitation meeting, during which he made several promises and assurances specifically aimed at influencing cine workers who were voters. Such statements and announcements constitute a clear violation of the MCC, amounting to corrupt practices as defined under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita

The BRS leaders urged the CEO to debar Revanth Reddy from participating in any further campaign activities, remove his name from the list of star campaigners of the Congress Party, register a criminal case against him for committing electoral offences under relevant provisions of law, and account for the entire expenditure incurred for the said meeting and speech as election expenditure of the Congress Candidate Naveen Yadav.