EC takes serious note of gifts in Chamundeshwari by-polls in Karnataka

The Election Commission had taken a serious note of the recovery of a large amount of freebies bearing symbols of JD (S) from a farm-house on the outskirts of Mysore, where Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy was himself staying in defiance of the Election Commission directives.

Karnataka’s Chief Electoral Officer R Ramasheshan told reporters in Bangalore that the police and election observers had raided a farm on the outskirts of Mysore, which falls in Chamundeshwari assembly constituency, where by-polls were held on Monday. A couple of truck-loads of gift items including hundreds of tiffin boxes, umbrellas, T Shirts, musical drums, cricket bats and footballs had been stocked in the farm ostensibly for distribution among the voters.

Interestingly, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy was himself found staying an adjacent farm-house, defying the Election Commission guidelines for all non-local politicians to quit the constituency 48 hours before polling.

Ramasheshan said the incident amounted to “corrupt practices” and was a criminal offence under Section 123 of the Representation of People’s Act. “Punishment includes fine or imprisonment or both. The losing candidate can also approach the court seeking to set aside the election of the successful candidate”, he said.

The Election Commission had directed all non-local politicians to quit the constituency 48 hours ahead of the polling in the by-elections, which had pitted former Deputy Chief Minister and Congress candidate Siddaramaiah against the BJP backed JD (S) candidate Shivabasappa.

Rejecting the objections raised by the ruling JD (S) against the EC’s dictat and the role of Election Observer J Raymond Peter, the State’s Chief Electoral Officer said such a directive had been issued by the Election Commission in all the constituencies of the country, where by-polls had been held on Monday.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission has also rejected the “anti-propaganda” launched by the ruling JD (S) in Karnataka and praised its observer Raymond Peter for “ensuring a level playing field in the electoral process”.

In a statement issued to the press, the Election Commission has condemned the allegations of partisanship levelled against Raymond Peter. “The Commission strongly condemns the very loose utterances and derogatory words used by some of them to undermine the strength of character, depth and quality of work of the said Observer”, the statement said.