Naidu given time till May 25 to reply on poll code violation'

Hyderabad, May 24 (UNI) Telugu Desam Party(TDP) President N Chandrababu Naidu, who allegedly addressed an election meeting beyond the stipulated 2200 hrs in Mahboobnagar District on May 19, has been given time till tomorrow to give his explanation to the Election Commission.

After obtaining a report from the Mahboobnagar District Collector, Chief Electoral Officer I V Subba Rao had found that ''prima-facie there seems to be violation of the poll code by the TDP leader.'' Taking a serious note of the alleged violation, the Election Commission has served notice to Mr Naidu.

The Election Commission was closely watching the observance of model code of conduct and had served notices to five State Ministers and a Congress MLA and the Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly.

Normally, the EC expresses serious displeasure over such violations and when there are repeated violations, it goes to the extent of serving a notice to the political party asking why the party should not be derecognised, according to official sources.

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