Siddipet Collector Was Already Working As TRS Activist: Congress

Reacting to the reports of Siddipet Collector P Venkatrami Reddy resigning from the post to join the TRS, former minister & ex-Leader of Opposition in the Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir said that the Congress party's allegations that the man had been working as a TRS agent for quite long had been proven right.

Shabbir Ali said that the Congress had lodged a complaint with the President of India Ram Nath Kovind seeking action against the Collectors of Kamareddy and Siddipet, A Sharat and Venkatrami Reddy respectively, after they had touched the feet of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao in full public view during his visit to the inauguration of the Collectors' complexes on June 20.

"The President reacted to my complaint and referred the matter to the Union Ministry of Personnel, and also sought a report from Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar. But the Centre and the Chief Secretary delayed action against Reddy and Sharat despite the President's intervention. However, they were both destined to face action for violation of the All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968," he claimed.

"The Collectors also serve as District Magistrates. They had sent a wrong message and set a wrong precedent by bowing before the Chief Minister, who is a political functionary. Section 3 (ii) of the All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968, clearly says that every member of the Service needs to maintain political neutrality. Therefore, the Siddipet and Kamareddy Collectors were guilty of violating the AIS Rules," he added.

Shabbir Ali slammed KCR for turning many AIS officers into his "slaves". "Venkatrami Reddy is likely to be nominated as an MLC as a reward for his obsequiousness to KCR. This will again prompt many more IAS and IPS officers to shun political neutrality and act as TRS functionaries," he lamented.

He also alleged that some IAS and IPS officers who were sycophants of KCR were involved in corruption, land grabbing and other illegal activities.

He urged the President of India to take action on his complaint against both the Collectors irrespective of whether or not Venkatarami Reddy joined the TRS and became an MLC in order to get immunity.

"They have set a wrong precedent of disrespecting the Constitution by touching the feet of a political functionary, and both of them must face action for violating the AIS rules," he said.