BENGALURU: Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee on Tuesday filed a complaint with the Election Commission against NDA’s presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu, chief minister Basavaraj Bommai and others for violating laws governing presidential elections by lodging state BJP lawmakers at a five-star hotel and allegedly hosting a sumptuous feast for them on the eve of Monday’s polls.
Congress asked the EC to invalidate all 121 votes cast by BJP MLAs in favour of Murmu in the interest of a free and fair election. The complaint was signed by opposition leader Siddaramaiah, state Congress chief DK Shivakumar and opposition leader in the council BK Hariprasad. In its complaint, Congress claimed that on directions from Murmu, Bommai, BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel, BJP patriarch BS Yediyurappa, and chief whip in the assembly Satish Reddy, summoned all BJP MLAs to a fivestar hotel in Bengaluru on Saturday to “influence” them to vote for Murmu.
The complaint alleged that they were provided “luxurious rooms, food, liquor, beverages, and entertainment” in the guise of training sessions on voting procedure. It alleged that all these actions amount to “bribery and exerting undue influence on voters”. It said BJP’s leadership “has interfered with the free exercise of the electoral rights of MLAs”. It said the hotel bill was paid by Bommai and the BJP leadership, which is a violation of the provisions of sections 171b, 171 C, 171 E, and 171 F of the Indian Penal Code, read with the provisions of section 181a of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election Act, 1952.
The party appealed to the EC to file criminal cases against these functionaries under various sections of the IPC and provisions of the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Election Act, 1952. Chief electoral officer Manoj Kumar Meena said he has forwarded the complaint to the Chief Election Commissioner and it is for him to decide on how to proceed further
