New Delhi: The Election Commission has chastised the Telangana chief minister A. Revanth Reddy for mentioning payments under its scheme for farmers in election speeches and directed the government to pause the Rythu Bharosa scheme over concerns that they violate the model code of conduct.
The poll body’s decision comes amidst widespread criticism as it continues to ignore direct communal hate speech by Prime Minister Narendra Modi (who has called Muslims ‘infiltrators’ and ‘those who have many children’) and multiple Bharatiya Janata Party leaders who have repeated these utterances.
Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty
Notably, in Karnataka, yesterday, the EC asked X to take down a video posted by the BJP’s Karnataka unit that openly incited hatred against Muslims three days after it was first posted and 30 minutes before polling in Karnataka’s remaining seats closed.
In Telangana, however, the poll body had asked the ruling Congress to submit a compliance report on the matter by 5 pm on May 7, Hindustan Times has reported. It said Revanth Reddy had violated the model code of conduct by speaking of disbursement of money under the scheme at a road show on May 4.
The Election Commission’s notice says that its decision is triggered by what is purportedly “an inexplicable and abnormal delay in the disbursement process which usually happens in the months of November and December, coupled with concerns over attempts to politicise the ongoing scheme during the general elections.”
It also asked the Reddy government to pause payments under the scheme till the polls conclude in the state on May 13.
The scheme pays Rs 5,000 in the Kharif season and Rs 5,000 in the Rabi season to farmers.
The scheme was launched by K. Chandrashekhar Rao’s Bharat Rashtra Samithi government in 2018 and was called the ‘Rythu Bandhu’. The Congress government, after assuming power last year, named it the Rythu Bharosa.
The HT report mentions how in 2023, the Congress had complained of the violation of the model code by then Telangana finance minister T. Harish Rao, who mentioned the disbursement at an election rally.
