Hyderabad: Congress wants Venkatrama Reddy's nomination cancelled

Hyderabad: Further enhancing their attempts to expose the alleged irregularities of TRS MLC candidate Venkatrama Reddy, an IAS officer who resigned, the Congress party has lodged a complaint against him with the Election Returning Officer (RO) Upender Reddy, here, on Wednesday.

Telangana PCC president A Revanth Reddy, CLP Leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, former minister Shabbir Ali, accompanied by other senior leaders, met the RO and sought to disclose the nomination papers filed by Reddy. They requested him to cancel Reddy's nomination for not getting clearance in cases filed against him during his bureaucratic tenure.

Later, addressing the media, the Congress leaders questioned the Election Commission for not uploading the nomination papers online. They alleged that the MLC election procedure was being conducted under the control of TRS which is 'undemocratic'. Revanth said "being an IAS officer Venkatrama Reddy had indulged in unethical practices and was punished by the judiciary for not complying with its orders. Many cases were filed against him in which he could not get clearances."

Asserting that an IAS officer's resignation needs to be accepted by the Department of Personal Training (DOPT), Revanth said Reddy's resignation needs to be notified by DOPT and that letter of clearance needs to be furnished to the election officer, as he had filed his nomination to contest the MLC elections. He questioned the reasons behind hiding Reddy's nomination and sought to know the reasons for not allowing them to check, alleging that election officers were not responding to their requests.

He said the party would approach the Election Commission of India and file a complaint about not following the procedure in the MLC elections. He urged DOPT to launch an inquiry into the irregularities of Reddy and take a decision on notifying his resignation. Mallu criticised that Reddy was a black spot on the Indian Administrative Service.