Senior Congress leader and Karnataka’s Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday raised questions on the notice by the Election Commission of India and stated that the Karnataka government did not seek any votes and no offence was made out.
“Karnataka government has not asked anyone for votes… What violation have we committed?” Shivakumar asked. He asserted that they had not violated the model code of conduct as the advertisements were only aimed at projecting the work done by the Karnataka government.
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This statement came in response to a notice issued by the ECI earlier over the Congress-led Karnataka government’s alleged violation of the model code of conduct by placing government ads in Telangana.
“Politically, we have not asked for votes. Whatever our government has done in our state, there are a lot of Telugu-speaking people here, and a lot of other language-speaking people also live here, so we have given advertisements for what we have done in our government. We’ve not asked for votes. We only gave advertisements on the works done by our government here,” he said, as ANI reported.
“We have not committed any violation; the Karnataka government has not asked anyone for votes… What violation have we committed?” he asked in response to a question about the EC’s directions, PTI reported.
He insisted that they have only presented the work done to various states, to newspaper readers, whether in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, or Telangana. “If we have asked any votes, then (it is) okay (to question), but we have not asked for votes from anyone; we have not said vote for Congress or X or Y.”
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He compared these advertisements to those placed by various governments, reiterating that they were aimed at showcasing the work of the Karnataka government rather than the Congress party. He expressed their intent to provide a detailed reply to the EC.
‘ECI notice to Karnataka government’
On Monday, The Election Commission issued a notice to the Congress-led Karnataka government, noting that certain advertisements on welfare schemes and achievements of Central and State Governments were published in newspapers of states where elections are ongoing. This was deemed a breach of the Model Code of Conduct’s spirit.
The EC sought an explanation by 5.00 pm today and ordered an immediate halt to these advertisements. This action followed a complaint filed by BJP and Bharat Rashtra Samiti alleging violations of the Representation of the People Act and the Model Code of Conduct as it was seen as the Karnataka government had placed advertisements in Telangana media, seemingly targeting the November 30 assembly polls in Telangana.
(With Agencies Inputs)