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Indian Express
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Karnataka HC dismisses plea challenging CM Siddaramaiah's election from Varuna constituency
The Karnataka High Court has dismissed a petition challenging Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's election from the Varuna Assembly constituency, alleging that the 'five guarantees' promises in the Congress's manifesto were corrupt practices under the Representation of People (RP) Act. 'The 'guarantees' which are promised freebies in the manifesto cannot be considered to constitute a corrupt practice under Section 123 of R P Act in light of the law laid down by the apex court…in the case of legislators belonging to the Indian National Congress Party who had contested elections for Karnataka Legislative Assembly for the term 2023 to 2028, identical allegations have been made in election petitions filed against them,' a single-judge bench of Justice Sunil Dutt Yadav said on Tuesday. The election petition was filed by K Shankara, a voter in the Varuna constituency, who argued that the election results should be declared void on account of corrupt practices under the Act. He argued, amongst other contentions, that the 'five guarantees' in the election manifesto amounted to a corrupt practice and those whose photos appeared on those manifestos, like Siddaramaiah, would be liable. Siddaramaiah's counsel argued that the allegations of corruption were not substantiated, with the policies in the manifesto being welfare schemes and not corrupt practices. It was also pointed out that, as per the Supreme Court case of S Subramaniam Balaji v State of Tamil Nadu and Others, promises in a manifesto would not count as corrupt practices. The Karnataka High Court agreed with the contention that the Supreme Court had dealt with the question of manifestos, observing that similar petitions against other Congress leaders had also been dealt with. Siddaramaiah's counsel had also pointed out certain errors and repetitions from similar petitions. The high court stated that this indicated a 'very casual attitude' in drafting an election dispute. 'It must be noticed that an election petition has serious repercussions and by law it is mandated that an election petition requires careful drafting and the present petition does not evidence attention to necessary details and is drafted in a very casual manner,' the high court said.
India Gazette
21-04-2025
- Politics
- India Gazette
BJP labels Rahul Gandhi 'Anti Democracy after he alleges EC is compromised in Boston address
New Delhi [India], April 21 (ANI): The BJP on Monday took a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his remark on the Election Commission in his meeting at Boston. Party Spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari stated that Rahul could not win the trust of the Indian electorate and has started to question the Indian democratic process on foreign soil. In a post on X, Bhandari wrote, 'Anti Democracy, Anti India Rahul Gandhi, who could not win the trust of the Indian electorate, begins to question the Indian democratic process on a foreign soil.' Bhandari also questioned why Rahul Gandhi defamed India on foreign soil, further stating that he was an agent of George Soros, who was fighting the Indian state. 'Why does Rahul always defame India on foreign soil? An agent of George Soros who is fighting the Indian state - that's what Rahul Gandhi's intent today is,' the post further reads. Another BJP spokesperson, Shehzad Poonawalla, also criticised Rahul Gandhi's speech, saying that it showed Rahul Gandhi had also started speaking against the nation while speaking against the PM. 'Rahul Gandhi's identity is to humiliate Indian organisations and institutions on foreign soil. He goes abroad and makes comments on India's Constitution, judiciary, and questions the Election Commission of India (ECI). This shows how people, while going against PM Modi, have started going against the country,' Shehzad Poonawalla said. The BJP's criticism follows after Rahul Gandhi, while addressing the diaspora in Boston, alleged that the Election Commission (EC) in India was 'compromised,' further stating that there was something fundamentally wrong with the system. Citing the example of the Maharashtra elections, the Senior Congress leader stated that there was an addition of 65 lakh voters to the voter list in two hours, which was impossible.' More people voted in the Maharashtra Assembly elections than there are adults in the state of Maharashtra. The Election Commission provided us with a voting figure for 5:30 PM, and between 5:30 PM and 7:30 PM, 65 lakh voters cast their votes. This is physically impossible to happen. For a voter to vote, it takes approximately 3 minutes. If you do the Math, it would mean that there were lines of voters until 2 AM, but this did not happen. When we asked them for the videography, they not only refused but they also changed the law so that now we are not allowed to ask for the videography,' he claimed, addressing the meeting. 'It's very clear to us that the Election Commission is compromised, and there is something very wrong with the system. I have said this multiple times, ' he further said. Earlier, sources in the Election Commission stated that allegations made by Political parties about manipulated electoral rolls were unfounded. According to the sources, hardly any first or second appeals were made under Section 24 of the Representation of People act, or correction of any entries in Electoral Rolls (Section 22) or Inclusion (Section 23) during the recent Special Summary Revision published on January 6-7 2025. The Special Summary Revision (SSR) involves reviewing the voter list and unveiling a draft electoral roll. It is often held prior to elections and aims to uphold a just and transparent voting process by adding newly eligible voters, including those who have reached the age of 18 or have changed their constituency. It also involves the elimination of duplicate and deceased voters. According to sources, just 89 appeals were recorded in Maharashtra. While there were 13,857,359 Booth Level Agents (BLAs) in the country only 89 appeals for changes in the electoral rolls were made. Therefore, the sources said, there was no option but to accept the Electoral Rolls published after the completion of SSR in January 2025 as undisputed by all. (ANI)
