The Election Commission on Tuesday said it will investigate reports accusing Bharatiya Janata Party National President Amit Shah of violating the Model Code of Conduct in Karnataka, PTI reported. Shah allegedly gave Rs 5 lakh to the family of a party worker who had been killed in Mysuru in 2016.
“The mother of the deceased person had earlier given some statement before some television channel, but she has changed her version now,” Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar told reporters in Bengaluru. “She is now saying, neither has she received any cheque nor has she been given an assurance in this regard.”
The BJP has denied giving money to the deceased party worker’s family. The party’s state leader Pratap Simha claimed that Shah had simply asked her how much compensation the party had handed over to the family.
On Tuesday, a delegation of senior BJP leaders such as Prakash Javadekar, Ananth Kumar and P Muralidhar Rao met Sanjiv Kumar to lodge a complaint against the Karnataka police, accusing them of acting harassing BJP workers and implicating them in criminal cases, PTI reported.
“The police department is acting as a puppet of the ruling Congress party, arresting several right wing activists,” the BJP alleged in a memorandum. “No action has been taken against the biased officials.” The party also complained that the poll panel was interpreting the model code in a rigid and arbitrary manner.
The elections to the 224-seat Karnataka Assembly is scheduled for May 12. The counting of votes will take place on May 15.
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