Congress Not Violating Code: Gadde

Former Endowments Minister Gade Venkata Reddy on Monday denied that the Congress was misusing official machinery by deputing ministers to campaign for the party in the by-elections to the Kadapa Lok Sabha and Pulivendula Assembly constituencies.

Condemning the allegations leveled against the Congress that the ruling party was misusing the official position of the ministers by deputing them to campaign, Gade said, "Deputing party leaders and ministers to campaign is an old tradition, and the Congress has not violated any code".

He, however, opined that the Congress should have further utilized the services of local youth as part of its "collective responsibility approach" in the by-elections.

Reacting to the reports that the state government was to file an appeal against the High Court's order to disclose the contents of the controversial 8th chapter of the Justice B N Srikrishna Committee Report, Venkata Reddy said that these reports were baseless.

He also said that it was the Centre that was dealing with the issue, and that the state government was not involved. (INN)