Hyderabad: The Telangana Congress on November 16, Thursday, filed a complaint with the Election Commission (EC) on the use of the Telangana Martyrs memorial by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) for ‘political publicity’.
The senior vice-president of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC), G Niranjan, penned a letter to the chief election commissioner, Rajiv Kumar, citing a violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), over a chit-chat conducted by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K T Rama Rao with Telangana folk singer and BRS MLC Goreti Venkanna.
Niranjan stated that the usage of the state government property for the benefit of a political party is ‘not acceptable.’
“This (Martyrs memorial) premises is a government property which should not be utilised for political publicity and party benefits which is against the model code of conduct. Moreover, a part of this shooting took place with drone cameras which is also against the rules. Is any permission given by the police, in this regard or not?” he asked.
He further questioned if the BRS took any permissions from the concerned returning officer to conduct the chit-chat at the site’s premises.
“We request your good self immediately enquire into this and take action against KTR, Gorati Venkanna, MLC, and those who were involved in the shooting by using drone cameras. Please instruct all the TV channels not to telecast this interview which is against the model code of conduct,” he asked.
The chit-chat was telecasted on two popular news channels and is also currently streaming on YouTube.
Telangana is going to the polls on November 30.
