The Election Commission on Tuesday suspended altogether 106 government employees in the Siddipet district of Telangana for violating the model code of conduct. The EC action followed after these employees attended a meeting convened by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). The meeting was called by former IAS officer-turned-politician P Venkatarami Reddy, who is also the BRS candidate from the Medak Lok Sabha seat. An FIR was also lodged against Reddy and another BRS leader for holding the meeting without obtaining permission from the election authorities.
The action against the government employees was taken following a complaint by the BJP candidate from the Medak Lok Sabha seat, M Raghunandan Rao. He had complained that the staff of the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) had attended a meeting called by the BRS candidate at a function hall on 7 April where money had also been distributed. A flying squad of the district returning officer visited the venue and found 10-15 employees at the function hall. The squad members also retrieved CCTV footage from the function hall owner and found that 106 government employees had attended the meeting and money had exchanged hands. All of them were suspended on Tuesday.
P Venkatarami Reddy was the collector of Siddipet before he had quit and contested as an MLC for the BRS. As collector he had walked into a controversy when he touched the feet of the then chief minister, K Chandrasekhar Rao. His family’s real estate firm had bagged key plots during auctions of land in Kokapet.