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T’gana civic polls: BJP candidate found dead in suspected suicide
A BJP candidate in Telangana was found dead in a suspected suicide before municipal elections. Allegations of political pressure from Congress arise.
A 46-year-old Bharatiya Janata Party candidate in the municipal elections in Telangana was found dead in a case of suspected suicide at his home in Narayanpet district on Tuesday, police said. Polling is scheduled on Wednesday.
Local police have registered an unnatural death case and sent the body for post-mortem examination, an officer said. The deceased was contesting as a ward councillor.
“No suicide note was recovered from the scene,” said B Shivadar Reddy, state director general of police (DGP). “We have received a complaint from the family members regarding the suicide and a detailed probe has been initiated,” he added.
Meanwhile, state BJP chief N Ramachander Rao, who said he rushed to the area soon after he heard the news, alleged that the candidate, who belonged to a Scheduled Tribe (ST), was under sustained pressure by local Congress leaders to withdraw his nomination and join the Congress.
Rao called upon the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes to take cognisance of the incident.
Senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP K Laxman said he had raised the matter in Parliament, highlighting the timing of the incident and echoing Rao’s allegations. Union minister Bandi Sanjay called for a judicial enquiry into the incident.
The BJP staged a large-scale protest in Hyderabad on Tuesday. Senior party leaders and a large number of workers allegedly attempted to lay siege to the DGP’s office, police said, adding that the protest spurred heavy deployment of personnel at the site, and intermittent clashes between party workers and police.
Reacting to the incident and the allegations by BJP leaders, state Congress spokesperson Sama Rammohan Reddy accused the BJP of using the incident for political mileage. “Are BJP leaders stooping so low for political gains? They are trying to use the incident to serve their political interests,” he said.
Reddy called for a proper probe into the incident and alleged that it was the deceased’s fellow party members who had allegedly placed him under pressure after he was given a party ticket. “The BJP leaders must explain the developments that followed,” he said.
