Newspaper ad
A notice was sent to the BJP by the election commission on a newspaper ad published on May 8, making “specific but unverifiable allegations against Congress”.
The BJP’s announcement described Congress as “the most corrupt party in the world”.
The EC asked KarnatakaBjp President Nalin Kumar Kateel to provide “verifiable and traceable” facts regarding her claims in the announcement by 8pm on 9 May.
The action was taken based on a complaint from Congress.
“While general claims and allegations are part of election campaigning, specific allegations and claims about opponents must be supported by verifiable and traceable facts. Any claims made without substantiation and empirical evidence have the potential to mislead voters, thus depriving them of the their right’ to make fair and informed choices among candidates, thereby disturbing the level playing field, the jury said in its notice to Kateel.
Previously, the EC had issued a similar notice to Congress for its “corruption rate” publicity.
Sovereignty observation
Meanwhile, the EC has also written to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge to “clarify and rectify” social media posts referring to the term “sovereignty” in the context of Karnataka state.
The EC letter to Kharge came following a complaint by the BJP regarding a tweet that appeared on May 6 on the official Twitter handle of the Indian National Congress.
After Sonia Gandhi addressed a campaign rally in Hubballi in Karnataka on May 6, Congress tweeted from her official address: ‘CPP Chair Sonia Gandhi sends strong message to 6.5 million Kannadigas: ‘ Congress will not allow anyone to pose a threat to Karnataka’s reputation, sovereignty or integrity.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP attacked Congress for the remark.
Karnataka will go to the polls in one phase on 10th May. The results will be decaled on 13 May
