BJP complains to poll officials on political activities in offices of K'taka Ministers, MLAs
Bengaluru: The BJP on Sunday complained to the Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka, regarding the continued political activities in the offices of ministers and MLAs of the Congress government in the state.
A delegation of BJP leaders led by party MLA and former Minister S Suresh Kumar have asked for Ministers and legislators to be barred from carrying out any political activity in government buildings.
''Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar seems to have thought Vidhana Soudha was a Congress office. On March 30, Sivakumar violated the Election Code of Conduct by organising Najma Nazeer Chikkanerale's induction into the Congress party, at the Vidhana Soudha office,'' BJP said in a statement.
It accused Shivakumar of defying the code of conduct by organising a political programme at the government office, despite being aware that it should not be done.
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Despite this happening under the nose of the state's Chief Secretary Rajneesh Goel, his apparent inaction is alarming, it added.
The Lok Sabha elections have been announced and filing of nomination papers have already started, but the lack of enforcement of the election code by government officials is evident, the BJP said, adding it has informed poll officials that party activities are still going on in the offices of several ruling party MLAs.
The ministers are holding press conferences from their offices in Vidhana Soudha and Vikasa Saudha, it said. ''An example is that on March 25, Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda held a press conference at Vikasa Soudha and criticised the Central government. The Election Commission should immediately close the offices of the Ministers,'' it added. Ministers and MLAs should be barred from carrying out any political activity in government buildings, the BJP said in its petition, and requested the Election Commission to give appropriate direction to the concerned authorities in this regard.
It also demanded that a strict action should be taken against the officials who are allowing such activities defying the rules.
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Security scare at Delhi Assembly as SUV breaks through iron gate; 3 held, vehicle seized
New Delhi (PTI): In a major security breach at the Delhi Assembly, a masked man drove an SUV through one of the boundary gates, placed a flower bouquet outside the Speaker's office, and fled, triggering a high alert on Monday afternoon. Police later detained three people, including the driver, and seized the vehicle from north Delhi.
Multiple police teams, along with a bomb disposal squad, rushed to the site and conducted a thorough sweep of the area to rule out any threat, a police officer said.
The car, bearing an Uttar Pradesh registration number, entered the Assembly premises after breaking through Gate No. 2 at around 2 pm, officials said.
Since it is not the main gate, security is relatively less around it when the House is not in session, according to sources.
"The driver proceeded towards the office of Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta and placed a flower bouquet near the porch before rushing out in his vehicle," said a Delhi Secretariat official.
The incident raised "serious" security concerns, with authorities treating it as a potential "security breach", he said.
Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Ravindra Yadav reached the site soon after the incident and supervised the investigation.
Yadav said police checked CCTV camera footage in and around the area to reconstruct the sequence of events. Police teams were formed to track down the vehicle and its occupants, and alerts were flashed to adjoining states, with details of the suspected car shared with local police units.
Later, police apprehended three people, including the driver.
"Three people have been detained. The car was recovered, and the accused were caught in north Delhi," a police officer said.
Meanwhile, forensic experts examined the flower bouquet that was allegedly kept inside the assembly premises. The bomb disposal squad and dog squad conducted a thorough sweep of the area to rule out any explosive threat.
The incident comes close on the heels of bomb threats received by the Assembly during the recently concluded budget session.
