Now, Mayor Gadwal Vijayalakshmi in poll code violation row

Hyderabad: Did Mayor of Hyderabad Gadwal Vijayalakshmi violate the Model Code of Conduct at the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) head office? While opposition parties claim that she had violated the code, the officials deny the allegation.

The controversy began as the Mayor's office circulated a photograph of the Mayor holding a TRS election pamphlet seeking her support to the party candidate Surabhi Vani Devi for the Hyderabad Graduates' MLC election inside the GHMC office in the official GHMC whatsapp group.The message received from the Mayor's office said that founder of Narisena Global Women Forum Latha Chowdary and other members had called on the Mayor.

During this meeting, the mayor sought the support of the forum members for TRS candidate Surabhi Vani Devi. The forum members, the note said, had informed the Mayor that the forum has 6,000 members from 20 States and all were graduates and would support the TRS candidate.

As a model code of conduct is in vogue, no election campaign should take place on the premises of the GHMC office or any such place. However, on Wednesday, the officials who were in damage control mode refuted that the Mayor had violated the election code.