Ban Home Minister Amit Shah, UP CM Yogi Adityanath from campaigning in Karnataka: Congress to EC
New Delhi, Apr 28: The Congress urged the Election Commission (EC) on Friday to ban Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath from campaigning for the May 10 Karnataka Assembly polls for their alleged derogatory statements against the minority community that create an atmosphere of communal disharmony.
A delegation of Congress leaders, including Abhishek Singhvi, Pawan Kumar Bansal and Mukul Wasnik, met the chief election commissioner and the election commissioners, and requested the poll panel to ensure a level-playing field in the southern state.
The Congress will also seek all legal options with regard to the "vishkanya" remark made against former party chief Sonia Gandhi by a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader in Karnataka on Friday.
The delegation alleged that Shah and Adityanath made "false", "partisan" and "communal" statements during the poll campaign in Karnataka with a view to seek electoral gains, and said they should be banned from campaigning in the state.
The Congress accused Shah and Adityanath of trying to create an atmosphere of communal disharmony in Karnataka by circulating unverified, false, malicious and communally-charged allegations in their poll speeches.
The opposition party said the EC should immediately take action against the two leaders.
"The ECI should impose a clear and complete ban on Mr Amit Shah from all campaign activities till the conclusion of the election and further direct a ban on circulation of the videos of the rally with offending portions," a memorandum signed by All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Randeep Surjewala and submitted to the poll panel said.
Briefing reporters outside the EC office here, Singhvi said, "We have just finished a very productive and important meeting with the EC. We complained specifically about the highly objectionable, blatantly partisan, communal and false statements coming from the top BJP leadership, in particular Home Minister Amit Shah and the Uttar Pradesh chief minister.
"They have made statements clearly against the minority community.... We have asked for a ban on campaigning by such persons."
Asked about the "vishkanya" (venomous) remark made against Gandhi by BJP leader Basangouda Patil Yatnal, Singhvi said the Congress will explore all legal options available to it, including moving the EC.
"It is a very derogatory and gutter-level remark against Sonia Gandhi.... We will use all legal options, including (moving) the EC," he said.
The Congress memorandum alleged: "Shah, in his desperation to improve their chances in the upcoming election, has sought to incite the law-abiding voters of the state of Karnataka by knowingly delivering false, baseless and uncertified statements before tens of thousands of voters, the video recording of which has even been circulated by the BJP to a far larger audience."
"In doing so, he and the organisers of the rally have committed serious electoral offences which are not only violative of this guideline but are also punishable under the Indian Penal Code, 1860," it said.
On April 25, the Congress claimed that Shah, along with several other BJP leaders, addressed a gathering at Karnataka's Vijayapura and their objective was to create an atmosphere of communal disharmony among the crowd that had gathered at the venue and those hearing the speeches on media platforms. The party had also alleged that these speeches were aimed at maligning the Congress on the basis of statements known to be false.
Quoting the home minister, the opposition party claimed that Shah had said, "Siddaramaiah, former chief minister of Karnataka, had released all PFI workers who were earlier kept in custody, and it was the BJP government that had to locate and jail them again."
It alleged that Shah had also stated that "the Indian National Congress has given an election promise that if it is elected to form the government in Karnataka, it will lift the ban on the PFI".
"In addition and more worryingly, coming from the union home minister himself is the statement that if the Indian National Congress wins the upcoming elections, then the entire state of Karnataka will be 'afflicted with communal riots'.
"The statements made by Amit Shah are likely to incite any class or community of persons to commit any offence against any other class or community and indirectly threaten to try to mislead electors into voting for a particular political party and candidate," the Congress said.
The opposition party also claimed that addressing a poll rally in the southern state on April 26, Adityanath said "the Congress is an expert in appeasement politics as it is supporting banned outfits like the PFI in Karnataka.... The BJP's double-engine government has banned the PFI and broken its backbone. There have been no riot or curfew in Uttar Pradesh in the last six years".
"We ask that the ECI ban Shri Yogi Adityanath from all campaign activities till the conclusion of the election," the Congress memorandum said.
The opposition party also raised the issue of the BJP candidate from Chamarajanagar and Varuna constituencies, V Somanna, allegedly offering a bribe of Rs 50 lakh to Janata Dal (Secular) nominee Mallikarjun Swamyand and promising a government vehicle for him in return for withdrawing his candidature.
ALSO READ: JD(S) promises to restore 4 per cent reservation for Muslims in election manifesto
The Congress has sought the cancellation of Somanna's nomination from both the seats. At Varuna, Somanna is pitted against Siddaramaiah, the chief ministerial aspirant of the Congress.
Polling for the Karnataka Assembly is scheduled to be held on May 10 and the counting of votes will be taken up on May 13. The BJP is in power in the southern state.
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CM Siddaramaiah says no decision taken on 4 per cent Muslim reservation in govt tenders
Mysuru (Karnataka), Nov 13: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said there was a demand for four per cent reservation for Muslims in government tenders, but no decision has been taken yet on it.
Prominent Muslim leaders, including Karnataka Minister for Municipal Administration and Hajj, Rahim Khan, Congress MLAs and MLCs wrote to the chief minister on August 24 demanding to consider giving four per cent reservation to socially and economically backward Muslims in government contracts. The chief minister wrote on the petition on August 31 that the file should be put up, sources said.
"There was a demand for four per cent reservation, but we have not taken any decision yet," Siddaramaiah told reporters here.
When asked about the BJP raking up this issue, he said, "The BJP wants to communalise everything. Their job is to create a rift between Hindus and Muslims. Did they ever wish peace in society?"
BJP state president B Y Vijayendra termed the purported move unhealthy.
"In a bid to woo the Muslim community, the @INCKarnataka government is going to give reservation in contracts as well, which will damage the health of a harmonious society," he said in a post on ‘X’.
He said it had become inevitable to protest against such stances of the Congress government.
Former Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar alleged in his post on social media 'X' saying what seemed like "shameless appeasement politics" to be a "cover for Congress corruption machine".
ಮುಸ್ಲಿಂ ಸಮುದಾಯವನ್ನು ಓಲೈಸುವ ನಿಟ್ಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಸರಣೀ ರೂಪದಲ್ಲಿ ಹೆಜ್ಜೆಗಳನ್ನು ಇಡುತ್ತಿರುವ @INCKarnataka ಸರ್ಕಾರ ವಕ್ಫ್ ವಿವಾದದ ನಂತರ ಗುತ್ತಿಗೆಯಲ್ಲೂ ಮೀಸಲಾತಿ ನೀಡಲು ಹೊರಟಿರುವುದು ಸಾಮರಸ್ಯ ಸಮಾಜದ ಸ್ವಾಸ್ಥ್ಯ ಹಾಳುಮಾಡುವ ನಡೆಯಾಗಿದೆ.
— Vijayendra Yediyurappa (@BYVijayendra) November 12, 2024
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