Hyderabad: As many as 106 government employees in Telangana’s Siddipet district have been suspended for attending a meeting of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in violation of the Model Code of Conduct.

Siddipet District Election Officer and Collector M. Manu Choudary suspended 106 staff members of District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) Siddipet (MGNREGS & SERP).

They had attended the BRS meeting at Reddy Function Hall in Siddipet within the Medak parliamentary constituency on April 7 in violation of MCC.

The action was taken after BJP’s former MLA and party candidate for Medak Lok Sabha seat Raghunandan Rao complained to the Assistant Returning Officer and Revenue Divisional Officer over the phone that DRDA staff was attending a meeting of BRS in connection with ensuing Lok Sabha elections and that money was also being distributed.

A flying squad team visited the venue and found 10-15 persons still in the meeting. It collected the CCTV footage from the management and found that BRS organised the meeting without obtaining permission from Assistant Returning Officer, Siddipet. A police complaint was also lodged against two leaders of BRS.

Based on the CCTV footage, the election authorities identified 40 employees of DRDA who attended the meeting. Later, another 66 employees were identified. All 106 staff members were suspended with immediate effect.