Hyderabad: The State Cabinet meeting, which was scheduled to be conducted on Saturday, was postponed as the Election Commission denied permission for the meeting.
With the model code of conduct still in vogue, the State government had appealed to the Election Commission to permit the conduct of cabinet meeting. However, there was no permission from the Election Commission till Saturday evening. Expecting that Election Commission would accord permission, cabinet Ministers, senior officials had arrived at the Secretariat by afternoon and stayed till evening. As there was no permission till 7 pm, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Ministers left the Secretariat in the evening.
The cabinet agenda was to discuss farm loan waiver, paddy procurement, planning for kharif season and other aspects pertaining to farmers, the Chief Minister said in a statement, adding that as there was no response from the EC, they could not conduct the meeting.
This apart, arrangements for Telangana Formation Day celebrations on June 2, pending projects under AP Reorganisation Act and other issues were to be discussed.
The Chief Minister 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 said.