TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has described as “false” the charge that he tried to secure votes by passing derogatory remarks against Hindus. “The allegation is false and flatly denied in toto,” said the Chief Minister in his reply to the show-cause notice served on him by the Election Commission of India.
In fact, if one makes an attempt to read the speech carefully and dispassionately, it would sound promoting secularism and democracy, which is the idealism and basic structure of the Constitution, the Chief Minister said in his letter. He said his speech made at Karimnagar, widely reported by the media the same day and the subsequent day, was misunderstood by the complainant (VHP State president M. Rama Raju). The complainant submitted his complaint in truncated version in order to dovetail with his notion, Hindutva philosophy.
“But in fact and deed the speech made by me, being the President of TRS Party on March 17, is strictly in accordance with sub-Para (1) of Para 1 of the Model Code of Conduct read with our Party Constitution and sub-section 5 of Section 29-A of the Representation of People Act, 1951,” he said in his letter. Party senior leader M. Srinivas Reddy sent the letter to the Election Commission through the office of the Chief Electoral Officer on Friday.
The response comes in the light of the Friday deadline set by the Election Commission in response to a complaint filed by the VHP State president, charging that the Chief Minister had made “derogatory and defamatory” remarks against Hindus with a view to securing votes in the name of religion.
