In one of its strongest actions during this poll season, the Election Commission of India has barred former Telangana Chief Minister and Bharat Rashtra Samithi chief K Chandrashekar Rao from campaigning for 48 hours, for allegedly making derogatory and objectionable statements against the Congress during a public rally in Sircilla district. In a letter to KCR, the ECI stated that his statements were in violation of the Model Code of Conduct. The ban is effective for 48 hours from 8 pm on May 1. The ECI in its letter stated that it had received a complaint from G Niranjan, senior vice-president of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee, alleging that KCR had made derogatory statements against the Congress on April 5. Sircilla Assembly constituency is represented by KCR’s son K T Rama Rao. Based on Niranjan’s complaint, the EC had asked the Chief Electoral Officer of Telangana to submit a factual report, which was done on April 10. The EC received a response from KCR on April 23 to its showcause notice, and he stated that “the officers in charge of the election in Telangana and Sriciall are not Telugu people and they hardly understand the local dialect. The complaint is made by the Congress by picking some sentences from the press conference out of context. The English translation of the sentences is not correct and is twisted”. KCR also submitted that he had confined his criticism to the policies and programmes of the Congress in the state, and he made no criticism of personal aspects of any Congress leaders. However, citing the Model Code of Conduct, which states that political leaders should not make false statements and utterances without factual basis aimed at misleading voters, the EC observed that statements made by KCR are in violation of the MCC. A BRS leader said that “KCR will abide by the EC’s directions”.
