Revanth Reddy meeting fiasco: EC revokes suspension order of ex-DGP Anjani Kumar
The DGP had exchanged pleasantries with Revanth Reddy and had handed him flower bouquets.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 12 Dec 2023 6:35 AM GMT
Hyderabad: Election Commission of India (ECI) has revoked the suspension order of Telangana’s former Director General of Police (DGP) Anjani Kumar.
On December 3, the DGP along with two other senior police officials were suspended for violation of MCC.
DGP, accompanied by additional DGP Sanjay Kumar Jain and Crime Investigation Department (CID) chief Mahesh Muralidhar Bhagwat had visited then Telangana state Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Anumula Revanth Reddy, at his Jubilee Hills residence to congratulate him, before the declaration of election results. This happened when the counting of votes was still in progress. The results indicated that Congress was likely to win the elections.
The DGP had exchanged pleasantries with Revanth Reddy and had handed him flower bouquets. Revanth Reddy was a potential chief ministerial candidate and one of the 2,290 candidates to contest the elections. He was also the star campaigner for Congress.
The three officials in uniform had also posed for photographs with Revanth Reddy. This gesture by the senior police officials triggered a controversy on social media and it pointed to their favoritism towards the star campaigner of a political party (INC) in violation of MCC.
However, reportedly, the DGP had said that the Congress president had called him to discuss the arrangements for the swearing-in ceremony of the new government and that the Congress party was planning to conduct the ceremony the very next day on December 4.
The same day, ECI recommended disciplinary action against the senior officials. They were immediately placed under suspension and an explanation was sought from them about a breach of the election code.
In the Government Order passed the same day, the DG of the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) Ravi Gupta was given additional charge of state DGP.
IPS officer from the 1990 batch, and an awardee of the United Nations Peace Medal, 57-year-old Anjani Kumar had taken charge as state DGP in December 2022.
