India
pti-PTI
New
Delhi,
Oct
29:
The
Election
Commission
on
Saturday
barred
Telangana
energy
minister
Guntakandla
Jagadish
Reddy
from
campaigning
in
Munugode
assembly
by-election
for
48
hours
for
violating
the
poll
code
after
he
allegedly
threatened
to
stop
welfare
schemes
if
people
do
not
vote
for
the
ruling
TRS
candidate.
The
poll
panel
deplored
the
minister’s
statement
and
censured
him
for
the
violation.
Though
Reddy
denied
the
charge,
the
EC
said
the
tone
and
tenor
of
his
speech
“is
in
the
nature
of
intimidation
of
voters”.
“Commission
orders
under
Article
324
of
the
Constitution
…
to
prohibit
him
from
holding
any
public
meetings,
public
processions,
public
rallies,
road
shows
and
interviews
…
in
connection
with
or
having
an
impact
on
ongoing
by-election
…
for
48
hours
from
7:00
pm,”
it
said.
The
by-election
is
on
November
3.
In
its
show
cause
notice
to
Reddy
on
Friday,
the
EC
had
cited
a
complaint
submitted
by
a
Bharatiya
Janata
Party
(BJP)
leader.
The
notice
quotes
the
English
translation
of
the
minister’s
speech
made
on
October
25
in
which
he
said,
“The
election
is
not
between
Kusukuntla
Prabhakar
Reddy
and
Rajgopal
Reddy,
it
is
the
election
for
whether
to
continue
the
pension
of
Rs
2,000
or
not,
it
is
for
whether
to
continue
Rythu
Bandhu
or
not,
whether
to
continue
free
24-hour
electricity
or
not…
.”
”
If
anyone
is
not
interested
in
pension,
he
can
vote
for
(Prime
Minister
Narendra)
Modi,
if
anyone
wants
schemes,
vote
for
KCR
(Chief
Minister
K
Chandrashekar
Rao),”
he
had
said.
In
his
reply,
the
minister
said
he
has
never
delivered
any
speech
stating
that
all
welfare
schemes
will
be
stopped
if
people
do
not
vote
for
the
contesting
candidate.
He
claimed
that
it
was
an
attempt
by
him
to
explain
the
welfare
schemes
provided
by
the
state
government.
He
claimed
that
the
BJP
leader’s
allegations
are
vague,
false,
concocted
and
untrue.
But
EC
said
it
is
convinced
that
the
tone
and
tenor
of
the
speech
made
by
Reddy
“is
in
the
nature
of
intimidation
of
voters”
and
thus
is
a
violation
of
the
Model
Code
of
Conduct.