FIR registered against D K Shivakumar for poll violation: EC

Bengaluru: An FIR has been registered against Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar for violation of the Model Code of Conduct for allegedly promising water supply in exchange of votes to residents of a housing society near here, the Election Commission said on Saturday.

The matter came to light after the BJP approached the poll body seeking action against Shivakumar after a video of him seeking votes from the residents of a housing society in Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha segment was shared widely on social media platforms.

Taking to social media platform ‘X’, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka said that an FIR is lodged by the FST (Flying Squad Teams) of Bengaluru against Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar for violation of MCC while addressing apartment owners in RR Nagara.

In another complaint lodged with the poll body’s Bengaluru office, BJP Karnataka MLA Suresh Kumar has alleged that DK Shivakumar used his office inside the Vidhan Soudha (Karnataka State Assembly) for a party event.

“DK Shivakumar still feels that he can use his office in Vidhan Soudha as his Congress office. Yesterday (on Saturday) that office was used for welcoming people into the Congress party. This is a clear case of model code of conduct,” Suresh Kumar said while speaking to media, after filing the complaint.

Kumar also said in his complaint that the event inside DK Shivakumar’s office in the Vidhan Soudha was related to Najma Nazeer joining the Congress party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections 2024.

Speaking further on Nazeer’s joining event inside the Assembly, Kumar added, “It is contempt against the model code of conduct. Hence, we have urged the Election Commission to take strict action against DK Shivakumar”.

The BJP leader appealed to the poll body, by taking action, to send a positive message that such practices and violations of the MCC would not be tolerated.

Calling it the Congress party’s ‘arrogance’, Suresh Kumar went ahead with saying that the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) has always been in the news for all the wrong reasons and that this latest episode (Najma Nazeer’s joining Congress) is yet another feather in its cap.

Asked about BJP’s infighting in the state over ticket distribution for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Suresh Kumar said that the party high command would speak to SR Vishwanath (BJP Karnataka MLA) and they would fight the elections together as one force, hoping that the latter would also join the poll campaign for the party.