Congress: Karnataka polls: Election Commission issues notices to BJP, Congress over model code violations | Karnataka Election News – Times of India
Newspaper ad
A notice was issued to the BJP by the poll panel over a newspaper ad published on May 8, which makes “specific but unverifiable allegations against the Congress” .
The BJP ad described the Congress as “the most corrupt party in the world”.
The EC has asked Karnataka BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel to provide “verifiable and traceable” facts regarding its claims in the ad by 8pm on May 9.
The action was taken based on a complaint by the Congress.
“While general claims and accusations are part of election campaigns, specific allegations and claims about the opponents need to be supported by verifiable and traceable facts. Any claim made without basis and empirical evidence has potential of misleading the voters thereby robbing them of their right ‘of making right and informed choices’ among the candidate, thus disturbing level playing field, the poll panel said in its notice to Kateel.
Earlier, the EC had issued a similar notice to the Congress for its “corruption rate card” advertisement.
Sovereignty remark
Meanwhile, the EC also wrote to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to “clarify and rectify” social media posts referring to the term ‘sovereignty’ in context of the state of Karnataka.
The EC letter to Kharge came following a complaint by the BJP regarding a tweet which appeared on the official Twitter handle of the Indian National Congress on May 6.
After Sonia Gandhi addressed a campaign rally in Hubballi in Karnataka on May 6, the Congress tweeted from its official handle: “CPP Chairperson Sonia Gandhi sends a strong message to 6.5 crore Kannadigas: ‘The Congress will not allow anyone to pose a threat to Karnataka’s reputation, sovereignty or integrity’.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP have attacked the Congress over the remark.
Karnataka will go to the polls in a single phase on May 10. The results will be decaled on May 13
