Disqualify all Cong MLAs, HDK tells EC

Maqsood Maniyar | NT

Bengaluru: J D(S) legislature party leader HD Kumaraswamy on Wednesday demanded that the Election Commission (EC) disqualify all 135 Congress MLAs because they allegedly won on the back of gifts.

He added that the “guarantee cards” detailing the five major programmes of the Congress were signed by eventual Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, which constituted an allurement.

“Central Election Commission should probe this and take serious action to disqualify all 135 Congress MLAs. The Central government must order a detailed inquiry and dismiss the State government,” Kumaraswamy said.

“Congress party has conspired to derail the entire election process. It is now taking this destructive Karnataka model to other States. They are implementing these experiments in Telangana, Madhya Pradesh and in other States going for elections. Everyone has to stop this anti-national and anti-constitutional move to poison democracy,” he added.

He was referring specifically to the recent admission by Siddaramaiah’s son Yathindra that the party had distributed cookers and iron boxes to voters in CM’s constituency Varuna, which had yielded positive results.

“Forget other constituencies, in the CM’s constituency, there was large distribution of cookers and iron boxes. Following the ‘socialist’ Chief Minister, several Congress MLAs are luring voters with freebies desecrating the sanctity of Vidhana Soudha built by former chief minister Late Kengal Hanumanthaiah,” he added.

Kumaraswamy also alleged that guarantee cards distributed in all Assembly constituencies were a violation of election norms.