ECI Suspends Telangana DGP for Greeting Congress President during Counting of Votes
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 3: The Election Commission of India has suspended Anjani Kumar, the director general of police Telangana for violation of the Model Code of conduct and relevant conduct rules during the Telangana assembly election.
The Telangana DGP along with Sanjay Jain, state police nodal officer, Telangana, and Mahesh Bhagwat, nodal (expenditure), had met Anumula Revanth Reddy, the state Congress president and a contesting candidate in the assembly election in Hyderabad with flower bouquet at his even when the votes were being counted.
The DGP and the two other senior police officials have been asked to submit an explanation for the alleged violation of model code of conduct. Photos of the top cop handing a bouquet to the Congress chief have gone viral on social media. The DGP opting to meet one of the candidates was a clear indication of mala fide intention of seeking favour, the ECI sources said.
The Congress registered a comprehensive victory and stopped the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) from getting a third consecutive term.
The sources at the poll panel said the DGP is the head of the force of the state police and was expected to lead the entire police services of the state by setting an example through his personal impartial conduct. “Any misconduct on the part of DGP Telangana not only sets a wrong precedent but sends incorrect signals to the field formations who are still in the process of conducting elections. Needless to add if subordinate police officers in the field formations start following the footsteps of their seniors to meet candidates abandoning their counting and security-related duties, the consequences can be disastrous of unimaginable proportions,” EC sources added.
“The next senior most eligible Police Officer of the State will be immediately given charge of Director General of Police Telangana,” the EC sources said.
