BJP issues show cause notice to MLAs ST Somashekar, Shivaram Hebbar over RS election cross-voting
Bengaluru: Chief Whip of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday issued a show cause notice to Yeshwantpur MLA ST Somashekar in the backdrop of his cross-voting and Yellapur MLA Shivaram Hebbar for abstaining from voting during the recently concluded Rajya Sabha elections in Karnataka.
Earlier in the day, opposition chief whip, Doddana Gowda Patil issued separate show cause notices to both MLA’s seeking an answer by May 5.
The BJP has accused ST Somashekar of violating the party's conduct by allegedly casting cross votes in the Rajya Sabha elections held on February 26. It is claimed that despite being instructed to vote for the BJP candidate, Narayanasa Bhanda, Somashekar voted for the Congress candidate.
ALSO READ: BJP suffers setback as two MLAs betray party candidate in RS polls in Karnataka
Shivram Hebbar of Yellapur Constituency was absent from voting, citing illness. He explained that he did not participate in the vote due to poor health. However, the BJP disputes this explanation and alleges that Hebbar visited the Hilton Resort, where Congress MLAs were staying, in a car belonging to Congress MLA Ranganath on the day before the polls.
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BJP has history of ‘contradictory alliances’, says BK Hariprasad
Bengaluru: Congress MLC B. K. Hariprasad has launched a sharp attack on the BJP, accusing the party of hypocrisy over its criticism of alliance politics in Tamil Nadu.
In a post on X on Friday, Hariprasad said BJP leader B. L. Santhosh criticising the Congress party’s alliance politics in Tamil Nadu was “not just laughable, but the height of political contradiction.”
He said the Congress has always joined hands with like-minded parties to protect secular and democratic values in the country.
Hariprasad questioned the BJP over several of its past and present alliances across the country. Referring to Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tripura, Bihar and Maharashtra, he accused the BJP of sharing power with parties it had earlier criticised.
He alleged that the BJP had aligned with separatist and corruption-linked political forces in different states for political gains.
“The BJP, which speaks against alliances today, should first look at its own political history,” he said, adding that the party’s record was full of “contradictions and changing stands.”
Hariprasad also accused the BJP of using central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax Department and CBI as political tools to target opposition leaders, topple governments and influence electoral mandates.
He further claimed that the people of Tamil Nadu had strongly rejected the BJP and its ideology in the recent election.
“Congress forms alliances to protect the Constitution, secularism and national unity, while the BJP enters into alliances only for power,” he said.
