The Election Commission has imposed a 48-hour ban on former Telangana Chief Minister and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) president K Chandrashekar Rao, popularly known as KCR, for making “derogatory” statements against the Congress party during ongoing election campaigning.
The ban, effective from 8 pm this evening, prohibits KCR from conducting public meetings, processions, rallies, shows, interviews, or making public utterances in the media related to the ongoing elections.
The Election Commission strongly condemned the remarks made by KCR, which were deemed to be in violation of the Model Code of Conduct. The action follows a complaint lodged by the Congress party on April 6 regarding objectionable statements made by KCR during a press meet in Telangana’s Sircilla town the day before.
In response to the Election Commission’s show-cause notice issued on April 23, KCR denied the charges and attributed any misunderstanding to language barriers, suggesting that the officers responsible for election matters in Telangana and Sircilla were not fluent in the local Telugu dialect.
Check out our 2024 Lok Sabha elections coverage here
KCR further criticised the Congress for allegedly distorting the context of his statements and insisted that his criticism was directed solely at the policies and programs of the Congress party, without any personal attacks on its leaders.
After reviewing the Congress’s complaint and KCR’s response, the Election Commission concluded that KCR had violated the provisions of the Model Code of Conduct, leading to the imposition of the 48-hour campaign ban.
KCR is now the second politician to face such a ban during the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, following Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala, highlighting the Election Commission’s firm stance against derogatory language and violations of electoral norms in the context of political campaigning.
