Ahead of Telangana assembly elections, opposition parties made some shocking claims. They have alleged that their phones were being tapped and selective searches of their vehicles were being conducted. The Economic Times has quoted Telangana Jana Samithi president M Kodandaram saying, “We have information that they are tapping our phones. We came to know that they (government) acquired equipment to tap and listen to WhatsApp calls also.” He further said, “Intelligence officials are saying this, earlier they used to tap selectively but after the announcement of elections, all the phones are being tapped. We condemn such activities.”
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee chief Uttam Kumar Reddy also alleged that government is snooping on them and he has apprised the same to the Election Commission.
TJS leader Kodandaram claimed that police is selectively searching cars of opposition leaders; he also alleged that police searched his vehicle as well as of TDP leader Ramana. He further said, “If you (government) want to search, you should search ruling party leaders vehicles also.”
If there is even an iota of truth in the allegations then it extremely shocking and a shameful thing. It’s a blatant use of state machinery to target opposition leaders and to subvert electoral process. It goes against the basic principle of free and fair conduct of elections in a democratic country. Such practices are unethical and morally corrupt at all the levels, and have no place in a democratic country like India.
Reacting to the accusations, caretaker Minister for IT and Industries K T Rama Rao tweeted: “For your information @UttamTPCC Garu @TelanganaPolice headed by @TelanganaDGP Mahendar Reddy Garu has been consistently rated as the best and a role model to the country,as far as maintaining law & order is concerned. Let us not unnecessarily politicize & demoralize hardworking Telangana officers.”
For your information @UttamTPCC Garu @TelanganaPolice headed by @TelanganaDGP Mahendar Reddy Garu has been consistently rated as the best & a role model to the country in maintaining law & order
Let’s not unnecessarily politicise & demoralise hardworking Telangana officers 🙏
— KTR (@KTRBRS) October 25, 2018
It’s not about politicizing or demoralizing police officers; it’s about adopting unethical means to target political opponents. The opposition leaders have made some extremely serious allegations which must be probed, to know if the allegations are true or are just an another way to malign the image of their political rivals, in order to get an edge over them in the state assembly elections. False allegations are normal during election season; all the political parties adopt this unethical trick to target their political opponents. But in order to prove that these allegations are false, a proper enquiry must be conducted. And as far as law and order of the state is concerned, the record of Telangana is not very bright. People of the state don’t trust the police force of their state. Instances of murder are frequent in Hyderabad. The allegations of corruption and bribery against the state police are not unheard of either. As of now, nothing certain can be said on the issue, but a detailed probe on the issue is sure to clear the mist.