The Election Commission of India has suspended the director general of police Telangana over the violation of the Model Code of Conduct and relevant conduct rules during the Telangana assembly election 2023, reported ANI.
The latest development comes shortly DGP Anjani Kumar allegedly met Congress representative Revanth Reddy at his residence before the completion of electoral counting. Owing to the same, ECI was forced to take radical measures for the same and issue the suspension of Kumar.
The DGP’s meet, with a contesting candidate out of the total of 2,290 and the star campaigner of one political party out of 16 political parties in the fray, is being viewed as a clear indication of mala fide intention of seeking favour, sources told news agency PTI.
As per the assembly poll results and trends, Congress was all set to oust the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) from power in Telangana.
#WATCH | Telangana DGP Anjani Kumar and other Police officials meet state Congress president Revanth Reddy at his residence in Hyderabad.
— ANI (@ANI) December 3, 2023
The party is leading on 65 of the total 119 seats in the state, ruling BRS is leading on 38 seats. pic.twitter.com/m6A9llRzgO
A Hindustan Times report quoted sources stating that the poll panel said the DGP is the head of the force of the state police and is expected to lead the entire police services of the state by setting an example through his impartial conduct.
“Any misconduct on the part of DGP Telangana not only sets a wrong precedent but sends incorrect signals to the field formations who are still in the process of conducting elections. Needless to add if subordinate police officers in the field formations start following the footsteps of their seniors to meet candidates abandoning their counting and security-related duties, the consequences can be disastrous of unimaginable proportions,” EC sources added.
Meanwhile, ECI has also sought an explanation from other two officials, Sanjay Kumar Jain and Mahesh M Bhagwat, about the circumstances under which they have met with Revanth Reddy.
"The next senior most eligible Police Officer of the State will be immediately given charge of Director General of Police Telangana," the EC sources said, as quoted by Hindustan Times.
Sunday, December 04, 2023, was observed as the result day for the Telangana elections, and the Indian National Congress led the ballot with 64 seats in a total of 119. This massive win led the state government of Telangana to change from the incumbent K Chandrasekhar Rao-led BRS party to the Indian National Congress of Telangana, reported Hindustan Times.
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