CMO social media handles violated MCC

Dileep Konatham said that the official social media handles of the Chief Minister are not supposed to post any updates or photographs/videos when the Model Code of Conduct is in place.

Hyderabad: The Chief Minister’s Office’s official social media handles have blatantly violated the Model Code of Conduct and the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Vikas Raj and Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari have been appealed to intervene and ensure all the updates are deleted from CMO social media handles.

Pointing out the violations to the CEO, Telangana Digital Media former Director Dileep Konatham said on X that the official social media handles of the Chief Minister are not supposed to post any updates or photographs/videos when the Model Code of Conduct is in place.

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However, the official social media handles of the Telangana Chief Minister’s Office are blatantly flouting the MCC and are posting regular updates and photos/videos.” He also recalled “Having worked as the Director, Digital Media, with the Government of Telangana (between 2014-2023), I vividly remember receiving specific instructions from the then Chief Electoral Officer of Telangana and the Chief Secretary of Telangana to strictly adhere to the Model Code of Conduct during the 2018 Assembly, 2019 Lok Sabha, and 2023 Assembly elections.

In fact, the instructions insisted on pulling down thousands of photos and videos, even from the archives of government websites,” The former Digital Media Director also said “However, I have noticed that the Telangana CMO social media handles are currently flouting the Model Code of Conduct with impunity. I would like to bring to your kind notice that even the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s Office is following the MCC and is not posting any updates on their social media handles. I am appalled that the current dispensation in Telangana is getting away with such a serious violation.”

He urged the CEO to issue necessary instructions to the Chief Minister’s Office and the Chief Secretary of Telangana to immediately delete all the updates made on the CMO social media handles after the MCC came into effect, and also to desist from posting any updates until June 5th, 2024.