Hyderabad: The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (soon to be BRS) on Tuesday lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI) alleging criminal defamation against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar. TRS leaders requested the ECI to prohibit Sanjay from campaigning the upcoming Munugode by-poll for his remarks made during a road show.
In a letter to the ECI, chief electoral officer (CEO) of Telangana and to the Returning Officer (Munugode), TRS general secretary Soma Bharath Kumar alleged that state BJP president Bandi Sanjay “committed serious offences of criminal intimidation and criminal defamation” against TRS leaders for the Munugode by-poll. Kumar claimed that Bandi Sanjay asked voters to “commit corruption by accepting money for casting their vote”.
The TRS leader also claimed that the BJP leader “indulged in terrorizing the people” by attacking leaders from the ruling party. Bharath Kumar took exception against Bandi Sanjay’s comments, which he termed as “objectionable vulgar language”. He alleged that Bandi Sanjay called BJP supporters “devotees of Rama” and TRS party men and women as “Rakshasas”, stating that the upcoming Munugode by-poll is a fight between “Gods and Demons, Devils”.
“The speech of Bandi Sanjay was made in Telugu and short version of it is transcribed in Telugu which is also attached herewith to this complaint for your perusal and appropriate action. We submit that these allegations, hate speech and other criminal utterances are totally criminal and not political,” said TRS leader Bharath Kumar in his complaint to the Munugode Returning Officer.
He also alleged that the ECI has been “silent”, with regard to taking action against the BJP, and went on to add that such “inaction is worrying”, and also an impression that the ECI is “ignoring the constitutional duty invested on it to conduct free and fair elections”.
The TRS also submitted a pen drive consisting of the video footage in which Bandi Sanjay made the remarks at Tirugundlapally in Munugode.
In the upcoming Munugode by-poll, the ruling TRS, with support from the Communist Party of India, is facing-off against former Congress MLA Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy, who joined the BJP recently, necessitating the by-poll.
