In a shocking move, Siddipet Collector M Manu Chowdary suspended 106 government employees who allegedly participated in a meeting conducted by BRS candidate P Venkatrami Reddy. This is after BJP candidate M Raghunandan Rao lodged a complaint with the State Election Commission alleging that these employees had violated the Model Code of Conduct.Following the directions of the Election Commission, the Collector suspended them after an inquiry.
The 106 employees work in different wings of the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA). While 38 of them were working in the Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP), the remaining 68 were working in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).A flying squad team visited the venue and found 10-15 persons still in the meeting. It collected the CCTV footage from the management and found that BRS organised the meeting without obtaining permission from Assistant Returning Officer, Siddipet. A police complaint was also lodged against two leaders of BRS.Based on the CCTV footage, the election authorities identified 40 employees of DRDA who attended the meeting. Later, another 66 employees were identified. All 106 staff members were suspended with immediate effect.