The Election Commission on Sunday asked Telangana Energy Minister G. Jagadish Reddy to be barred for 48 hours from campaigning in the Munugode assembly by-poll for violating the model code of conduct.
The Election Commission on Saturday issued a notice on Reddy’s speech in which Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao asked if he wants to continue with some welfare schemes or support Prime Minister Narendra Modi if he doesn’t. The Election Commission had received a complaint from BJP leader Kapilvai Dilip Kumar alleging that Reddy had said that welfare schemes would be stopped if voters did not vote for the TRS candidate.
In its order, the Election Commission said Reddy, while replying to the notice, said that he did not make any speech stating that all welfare schemes would be stopped if people did not vote for the candidate. He said the statement does not fall under the definition of “corrupt practices”. The Election Commission has barred Reddy from holding public meetings, processions, rallies, interviews and public speeches in the media from Sunday evening in connection with the November 3 by-polls.
