Hyderabad: The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) wrote a letter on Monday to the Election Commission of India (ECI), urging immediate imposition of the model code of conduct. This request comes in response to the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) announcing its list of party candidates for 115 out of the 119 constituencies in the state for the upcoming Telangana Assembly polls.
G. Niranjan, the TPCC election commission coordination committee chairman and AICC member, expressed in a letter addressed to Chief Election Commissioner Rajeev Kumar that no opportunity should be given to the ruling party to misuse its power.
Necessity for Immediate Model Code of Conduct in Telangana
He pointed out that while the current election laws stipulate that the model code of conduct comes into effect upon the election commission issuing the election schedule, given the changed circumstances, it becomes imperative for the election commission to consider the implementation of the model code of conduct immediately.
Noting that in the previous Telangana Assembly polls, the election schedule was declared on October 6, 2018, the notification followed on November 12, and the elections took place on December 7, 2018, he observed that if the election commission maintains the same schedule as the last elections, there are still 46 days remaining.
He also requested the election commission to promptly instruct state and district officials, as well as police personnel, to distance themselves from the events involving the chief minister, ministers, and MLAs, except for security arrangements.
KCR Announces Candidates for Telangana Assembly Polls
Yesterday, the president of BRS and Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao announced a list of BRS candidates for the upcoming Telangana Assembly polls.
The CM disclosed candidates for 115 of the 119 constituencies, while those for Goshamahal, Nampally, Jangaon, and Narsapur constituencies will be unveiled later.
Speaking to the media, at Pragathi Bhavan, Rao said that he will be contesting from two constituencies in the upcoming polls.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), as the BRS was earlier known, formed the first government in the newly created Telangana state in 2014. It retained power in 2018 when KCR advanced the elections by a few months to delink with the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
If BRS retains power, he will be the first leader in South India to become chief minister for a third consecutive term.
