ECI grants conditional permission for Telangana Cabinet meeting

The Cabinet meeting, which was scheduled to be conducted on Saturday, was postponed as the ECI had not accorded permission.

Hyderabad: With the Election Commission of India (ECI) granting conditional approval to the State government to conduct its Cabinet meeting, it has been decided to convene the Cabinet meeting at 3 pm on Monday. Chief Secretary A Santhi Kumari issued orders in this regard on Sunday.

However, the ECI has specifically said that issues of the crop loan waiver and common capital of Hyderabad could not be discussed in the meeting. In a letter to Chief Electoral Officer Vikas Raj on Sunday, the ECI said the meeting could take up only those matters, which were of emergent nature and were to be implemented in a time-bound schedule.

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“The Cabinet meeting may only take up matters which are emergent and urgent and cannot wait till June 4. Accordingly, the agenda items regarding the issue of common capital of Hyderabad and crop loan waiver should be deferred till completion of Lok Sabha elections in the State,” the ECI said in the letter, adding that officials involved in the conduct of the election should not attend the meeting.

The Cabinet meeting, which was scheduled to be conducted on Saturday, was postponed as the ECI had not accorded permission. With the election code in vogue, the State government had earlier appealed to the Election Commission to permit the conduct of the cabinet meeting but it did not respond till Saturday evening. The earlier Cabinet agenda was to discuss the crop loan waiver, paddy procurement, planning for Kharif season and other aspects pertaining to farmers on Saturday. This apart, arrangements for Telangana Formation Day celebrations on June 2, pending projects under the AP Reorganisation Act and other issues were to be discussed.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had decided to convene the meeting soon after the Election Commission’s approval. “If permission is not accorded by Monday, the Cabinet will approach the Election Commission in New Delhi and seek permission,” Revanth Reddy had said on Saturday. However, the ECI granted the conditional approval on Sunday.