The Opposition BJP has filed a complaint with Election Commission of India, accusing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of trying to defame the party in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls by levelling allegations that the BJP was trying to woo Congress MLAs by offering them ₹50 crore each.
In a complaint before the Chief Electoral Officer in Karnataka on March 24, a delegation of BJP leaders led by former minister S. Suresh Kumar alleged that the chief minister had made such an allegation with a political intention of defaming the BJP at the time of Lok Sabha polls. Terming the allegations as “false”, the BJP delegation said the CM had failed to furnish evidence to support his allegations.
Describing this as violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), the BJP delegation demanded that Mr. Siddaramaiah apologise to the BJP for such allegations and also withdraw his remarks. It also urged the ECI to initiate an appropriate action against him.
Plaint against Hegde for hurting Kannada pride
The BJP delegation also filed another complaint against Congress candidate from Udupi-Chikkamagaluru constituency K. Jayaprakash Hegde for his reported appeal to voters not to support his BJP rival Kota Srinivas Poojary on the grounds that he does not know English and Hindi languages. Mr. Hegde had said that knowing only Kannada language will not help work effectively in Delhi as an MP, the complaint pointed out.
The BJP delegation described this as an assault on the pride of Kannadigas and an insult to the regional language. Stating that such remarks would amount to violation of model code of conduct, the BJP demanded action by the ECI against Mr. Hegde.
