Telangana DGP takes flowers to Cong chief, EC suspends him

In an unprecedented move, the Election Commission suspended Telangana police chief Anjani Kumar hours after he visited state Congress chief Anumula Revanth Reddy with a flower bouquet at the latter’s residence, while the counting for assembly polls was under way. It directed that the next senior most eligible police officer be given charge as the state DGP. The poll panel also sought explanation from two other officers - Telangana police nodal officer Sanjay Kumar Jain and nodal officer (expenditure) Mahesh M Bhagwat - who had accompanied the DGP to Reddy’s residence. EC sources described the DGP’s visit to Reddy, a contesting candidate and star campaigner for Congress, in full media glare as a violation of the model code of conduct as well as service conduct rules. Sources said Kumar’s suspension, perhaps the first such action to be taken by the EC after conclusion of polling, is a stern warning to officials to maintain non-partisanship and impartiality till the end of the polling process.