Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
The Karnataka Congress on Tuesday lodged a complaint with the Election Commission against NDA’s presidential nominee Droupadi Murmu and other BJP leaders for ‘bribery and undue influence’ on lawmakers during the July 18 voting.
A delegation led by former MP VS Ugrappa handed over the complaint signed by Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar, Leaders of the Opposition Siddaramaiah and BK Hariprasad.
In its complaint, the Congress has charged that on July 17, a day before the voting in the presidential election, all BJP MLAs were ‘summoned’ to a 5-star hotel where they were ‘provided luxurious rooms, food, liquor/beverages/drinks, entertainment…in the guise of training session’.
On July 18, the Congress pointed out that ‘almost all the ministers, MLAs and other senior leaders of the BJP came in BMTC air-conditioned bus’ from the hotel to Vidhana Soudha for voting.
‘All these acts of BJP leaders are nothing but bribery and undue influence on the voters/MLAs made on behalf of Droupadi Murmu for the furtherance of the prospects of the election,’ the Congress stated in its complaint, accusing the BJP leadership of interfering with the ‘free exercise’ of the electoral rights of voters (MLAs).
According to the complaint, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai paid ‘huge sums’ for rooms, food, drinks and entertainment for the lawmakers.
The Congress urged the Election Commission to book cases against Bommai, BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel, former chief minister BS Yediyurappa, government chief whip Satish Reddy and others. The Congress also demanded that all votes polled in favour of Murmu be treated as ‘invalid in the interest of free and fair election’.
