The Karnataka BJP has petitioned the Election Commission of India seeking disqualification of Congress MP from Ballari, E. Tukaram, alleging election malpractice.
The saffron party has alleged that the Congress government in Karnataka had siphoned off Rs 187 crore from the Maharishi Valmiki Corporation (ST welfare funds) to illegally fund the parliament elections in Ballari and Telangana.
A BJP delegation led by state party chief B.Y. Vijayendra met the election commissioner in Delhi and demanded that Tukaram be disqualified as his victory was illegal. The BJP noted that the Enforcement Directorate which is probing the scam, had mentioned the diversion of funds for the Ballari election in its press note.
“Former ST welfare minister Nagendra has stepped down to face the probe, and the ED statement is enough proof to disqualify Tukaram,” said Vijayendra, adding that as per the EC guidelines, one could not exceed the prescribed limit of election expenses (Rs 95 lakh for Lok Sabha constituency) even by a rupee.
Did Siddaramaiah govt violate MCC in Maharashtra?
The state BJP, in a separate complaint to the EC, alleged that the Congress government had violated the Model Code of Conduct that came into force on October 15 in view of the bypolls to three Assembly constituencies—Sandur, Channapatna and Shiggaon—by issuing full-page advertisements on the front page of leading Kannada and English dailies.
“The advertisement featuring the achievements of the Karnataka government with a tagline ‘Delivered as promised’, along with the photographs of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, was published on October 17 at the cost to the state exchequer. The dailies are in circulation not only in the bypoll-bound districts in Karnataka, but also some districts in poll-bound Maharashtra too, in gross violation of the MCC,” it said.
The saffron party has demanded action against the CM and DCM, and sought to restrain further publication of advertisements in violation of the model code, besides filing an FIR under the relevant provisions of the law.