The Telangana Director General of Police (DGP), Anjani Kumar, was suspended earlier this month by the Election Commission of India (ECI) for allegedly meeting Congress leader Revanth Reddy, who is currently the Chief Minister, during the state assembly election counting. This suspension was later lifted.

While the votes were being counted, Mr. Kumar paid Mr. Reddy a visit at his home. Pictures of Mr. Kumar giving Mr. Reddy a bouquet started a social media firestorm and raised concerns about possible MCC violations.

Sanjay Kumar Jain and Mahesh M Bhagwat, two state police officers, accompanied Mr. Kumar.

The DGP’s meeting with only one candidate out of 2,290—a well-known candidate from one particular party out of 16—sparked questions about the agency’s impartiality and compliance with the MCC, which requires impartiality from officials during elections.

Given that the DGP’s actions could have a detrimental effect on junior officers, the ECI declared the meeting to be a blatant violation of the code.

Senior IPS officer Ravi Gupta was given additional responsibility as Telangana DGP after Mr. Kumar was suspended.