In Telangana, Siddipet District Collector Manu Chowdhary has suspended 106 Telangana government employees including contract and permanent employees for attending a meeting hosted by BRS’ Medak Lok Sabha candidate P Venkatrama Reddy two days ago. These state government employees were working for the Society for the Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS)- both wings of the District Rural Development Agency. Of the 106 employees, 38 work with the SERP and 68 with NREGS. The suspended staff includes assistant project managers (SERP), community coordinators, technical assistants, computer operators, village organization assistants, field assistants and engineering consultants among others.

BJP candidate for Medak Lok Sabha Constituency M Raghunandan Rao filed a complaint with the returning officer over the violation of the model code of conduct and following which an election flying squad was sent to the venue.

The flying squad found 10-15 persons in the meeting at around 10 pm. They collected the CCTV footage from the function hall. BRS leaders Venkatrama Reddy and M. Ravinder Reddy have been booked by Siddipet II Town police for conducting an unauthorized meeting without obtaining any valid permission and for violating the MCC. As per the local police, Venkatrama Reddy was charged under Section 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 171 (b) (bribery) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).