Enhanced presence, less of physical interference and more of legal action.
That was the strategy adopted by police in GHMC elections to ensure they were not accused of siding with any political party. Though BJP State president Bandi Sanjay charged the DGP M. Mahender Reddy with acting like ruling TRS party agent, a day before the polling, allegations of police acting biased were far less vis-a-vis recent Dubbak by-election.
In fact, it was Dubbak by-election during which serious allegations were levelled against role of police officials. Addressing a victory rally after being declared winner of Dubbak by-election, M. Raghunandan Rao rather sarcastically thanked three Police Commissioners for ‘helping him win the seat’ with their alleged harassment.
While Mr. Rao, during the campaign, charged that Siddipet police harassed him by implicating him in false cases, police refuted all allegations stating that they were discharging their duties. Yet, alleged frequent interception and checking of Rao’s vehicle and those of his supporters, linking him with seizure of money outside the constituency like Hyderabad raised many an eyebrow.
Political analysts too felt that ‘police did their duty rather excessively’ and this undue seriousness was perceived as harassment by voters. Ultimately, all this benefited only Mr. Rao.
In this backdrop, GHMC elections, a bigger election than Dubbak by-poll, posed a serious challenge to police to ensure they did not invite such criticism again. “There were less instances of cash seizures on large scale, harassment of candidates too were scant and allegations of physical interference with campaign of contestants was almost absent,” a police officer unwilling to be named said.
A classic example is the issue relating to entry of Karnataka BJP MP Tejasvi Surya into Osmania University campus. The OU gate at AMS arch was kept closed since imposition of lock-down on March 22. Even after lockdown was lifted, OU authorities kept the gate closed officially. Apparently unaware of this, the BJP MP, accompanied by local leaders, entered the campus through the gate after minor altercation with the policemen who tried to stop him. “Using force to stop them would have triggered allegations of harassing them,” said a police officer.
