Hyderabad, April 18 (Inditop) Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi’s allegations against Andhra Pradesh police chief A.K. Mohanty, accusing him of being partisan in the Lok Sabha polls, left the Election Commission fuming Saturday.
The state’s Chief Electoral Officer I.V. Subba Rao has taken suo motu notice of Owaisi’s allegation that Mohanty had colluded with the rival Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in the poll from Hyderabad constituency Thursday.
Sources said the MIM chief is likely to be issued a show cause notice by the poll panel, which had appointed Mohanty as Director General of Police (DGP) last month.
Owaisi is the Hyderabad MP and is seeking re-election from the constituency, which along with 21 other Lok Sabha constituencies and 154 assembly segments went to polls Thursday.
Owaisi Saturday alleged: “Mohanty has a perverted mind. He is trying to be brave in uniform. Let him shed his uniform, come in open and face us in a democratic manner.”
Owaisi also found fault with the chief electoral officer for not taking note of his party’s petition urging it not to appoint Mohanty to the top post.
“Shame on you Mohanty. You have stooped to this level and brought disrepute to the post of DGP. We had been saying from the beginning that he can’t do justice. He tried to victimise us. He set policemen after us. They were chasing use everywhere,” said Owaisi.
“Tell me, which DGP will go around in the old city. Were there riots or booth capturing in the old city,” he asked. He said Mohanty went around Hyderabad constituency for one-and-a-half hours.
“Mohanty made at least 25 calls to the TDP candidate (and editor of Urdu daily ‘Siasat’ Zahid Ali Khan). I will seek the details of these calls under the Right to Information Act,” he said.
“Despite all this, we are confident that we will win Hyderabad Lok Sabha and eight assembly seats,” said Owaisi, whose party has been winning the Hyderabad seat since 1984.
During polling, Owaisi had thrashed a polling agent of the TDP for allegedly distributing money among voters. Police had booked a case against him.
The MIM accuses Mohanty of being anti-Muslim.
The poll panel, however, preferred Mohanty over other officers whose names were submitted by the state government after S.S.P. Yadav was removed as police chief for publicly praising the chief minister.
Mohanty, a 1975 batch IPS officer, earlier served as the police commissioner of Hyderabad in 2005. He was transferred by the Congress government allegedly under pressure from MIM.
rounak