A day after The Hindu highlighted the alleged violations of model code of conduct by the former MLA C.S. Puttaraju in an article titled, ‘Bus-stand named after JD(S) candidate Puttaraju’, Election Commission (EC) officials on Thursday removed his name on the bus-stand shelter by painting the area black. Mr. Puttaraju is contesting as the JD(S) candidate in the Lok Sabha bypolls from Mandya constituency. According to the EC’s directions, the local administration must remove names and photos of candidates displayed in public places. But, a bus-stand at Holalu village in Dudda hobli in Pandavapura taluk was named after Mr. Puttaraju a few days ago.
Reacting to the newspaper report, a team of officials from the district administration visited the village on Thursday, photographed the bus-stand and later removed his name.
Suo motu case
According to sources in the Election Commission, officials are contemplating registering a suo motu case against Mr. Puttaraju for allegedly violating the model code of conduct.
MLA fund
The bus-stand was constructed at a cost of Rs. 7 lakh under the MLA Local Area Development Fund when Mr. Puttaraju was the local legislator.
But, he renamed it ‘C.S. Puttaraju Bus-Stand’ to lure voters for the August 21 byelections, Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) leader Shambhuna Halli Suresh had alleged.
EC urged
He had urged the EC to initiate action against the JD(S) leader.
