Hyderabad, July 24: Election Commission today expressed strong displeasure over the “provocative” statements made by TRS President K Chandrasekhara Rao during the campaign for the July 27 by-elections to 12 Assembly seats in Telangana.
“The EC was not satisfied with his explanation regarding these statements and is of the view that he, as a responsible political leader, should not have made such statements in public, which can aggravate existing differences between different sections of the society,” Andhra Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer I V Subba Rao told reporters here.
The EC has warned Chandrasekhara Rao to be more cautious in future so that no provision of model code of conduct is violated, he said.
The EC had issued a notice to the TRS chief following a complaint by ruling Congress that he made “provocative” statements during the poll campaign in Telangana.
Meanwhile, the EC today sought an explanation from Mohd Shabbir Ali, the Congress candidate from Yellareddy Assembly constituency, for allegedly violating the model code by addressing a meeting at a Church.
Campaign in places of worship amounts to violation of poll code and Ali, a former Minister, has been asked to reply to the notice by July 25, he said.
The by-elections were necessitated as the sitting MLAs had quit their posts in support of separate Telangana demand.
–PTI