In a relief to incumbent Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu amidst his ongoing standoff with the Election Commission of India (ECI), the poll panel on Friday agreed to his demand to lift the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) in four districts that are to be affected by Cyclone Fani. The four districts where the provisions of MCC are to be relaxed are Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam. This relaxation is in order to "facilitate speedy rescue, relief and restoration activities to successfully face the Cyclone Fani".
"The Commission has considered the matter and approved the proposal of granting relaxation in the provisions of MCC for all the preventive and relief work associated with the cyclone in the above-mentioned districts," a statement said.
Earlier, the Election Commission had barred the CM from holding review meetings about ongoing projects like Polavaram and construction of capital Amaravati.
Irked, Naidu had previously written a letter to the EC, threatening legal action. Naidu alleged that such restrictions were imposed only in case of Andhra Pradesh as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Ministers in states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies continued to hold review meetings. In the nine-page letter to the EC, the TDP chief lashed out at the poll body saying it was intentionally paralysing the state administration.