Karnataka HC rejects plea challenging election of CM Siddaramaiah from Varuna constituency
Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has dismissed a petition challenging the election of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah from Varuna constituency in Mysuru district in 2023 on grounds that the Congress, with five guarantees in its manifesto, was trying to bribe the people of the state.
A single-judge bench of Justice Sunil Dutt Yadav passed the judgment on Tuesday afternoon.
The petitioner, K Shankara from Varuna constituency, had alleged that the Congress manifesto was announced with Siddaramaiah’s consent, adding that the guarantees aimed at gratifying the electorate of Varuna constituency in order to induce them to vote for the Congress.
Shankara further alleged that Siddaramaiah’s act amounted to corruption during the polls and urged the High Court to not only declare Siddaramaiah’s election void but also debar him from contesting elections for six years.
The petitioner’s lawyer, Pramila Nesargi, argued that the guarantee schemes discriminated against men, with free trips and financial assistance to women only, and violated the Article 14 of the Constitution, which lays stress on the right to equality. She too called the promises made in the Congress manifesto as ‘bribing the voters’ and asked the HC to cancel his election.
The Court had sought the CM’s response to the plea in July 2023.
Siddaramaiah’s advocate Ravivarma Kumar, who refuted the charges in court, called the petition a ‘copy-paste’ document and added that it was liable for dismissal as there was no evidence of the Congress attempting to lure voters with bribery through its manifesto.
Pointing out that the election of Shivajinagar MLA Rizwan Arshad had been challenged on similar grounds but dismissed by the HC in 2024, the CM’s advocate opined that the election of Siddaramaiah too was being challenged with identical pleadings.
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Operation Sindoor: Zubair exposes fake news after India’s strikes on Pakistan
New Delhi: India launched “Operation Sindoor” early Wednesday morning, targeting nine terror launchpads in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). According to reports, 24 missile strikes were carried out in response to the recent terror attack in Pahalgam. The operation reportedly killed around 70 terrorists.
Soon after the strikes, a flood of videos and photos began circulating on social media and TV channels. However, many of these turned out to be false or misleading.
Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of Alt News, has been fact-checking these claims since early morning. He confirmed that many of the videos shared online were actually from other global conflicts, such as those involving Israel, Gaza, and Iran. Some videos were even taken from video games and falsely shared as real footage of the Indian attack.
Pakistan also claimed that it shot down two Indian aircraft. Zubair clarified that this claim is false and that only drones were downed, not manned aircraft.
News Channel Republic TV, aired videos claiming to show the strikes. Zubair revealed that the footage in question was both old and edited, and not a real-time video of the current incident.
Several social media users have shared videos showing explosions in Gaza, falsely claiming they depict Wednesday’s Israeli attack. However, Zubair has traced the original sources of these clips and confirmed that they are unrelated to the recent Indian operation.
Zubair’s efforts to counter misinformation have been widely appreciated on social media. Some users went as far as suggesting he deserves the Bharat Ratna for his work. Others noted that the kind of fact-checking done by Alt News could cost the government up to ₹100 crore if done officially.
