Telangana Telugu Desam leaders complained to the Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar that the code of conduct that came into effect in the State on September 6 was being grossly violated by Ministers and MLAs.
Mr. Ravula Chandrasekhar Reddy, who led a delegation of party members to the CEO here on Saturday, said that Ministers, in violation of the code, were laying foundations, participating in a spree of inaugurations and issuing GOs left and right.
“ In the last one week, over 500 GOs were issued, including extending tenures of some persons holding various posts. We sought the validity of these GOs from the CEO,” he said.
Extending monetary benefits to individuals, communities, on the basis of caste, village or region with the intention of garnering their votes, would amount to violation of the code. Be it the Rythu Bandhu or Bathukamma sarees that could potentially influence voters in favour of the ruling party should not be allowed once the code was in force. Monthly pensions were a different issue, he said.
‘Twelve issues’
The TDP highlighted 12 issues with examples that were in violation of the model code of conduct and urged the CEO to take measures to ensure a free and fair poll. The pictures of caretaker Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and caretaker Ministers were seen on every government portal and it was unethical and undemocratic. The code of conduct came into effect on September 6 itself and not September 27 as being advocated by some. The EC reminded the State again on September 27 of violation of the code. “ We requested the CEO either to cancel or keep all the GOs, decisions taken by the government between September 6 and September 27 in abeyance. We are confident that the CEO would do justice,” he said, speaking to media persons after meeting the CEO.
On discrepancies in electoral rolls, he said in the Malakpet constituency, one Muzaffar Ali and his team conducted a survey of 1.5 lakh voters. Of that, over 1,300 votes turned out to be fake. In one house, there were over 600 votes and in another house address, 700 voters were listed, he said.