Unedited video footage of the sting operation conducted by two private television news channels on the alleged cash-for-vote deal for the Rajya Sabha elections, scheduled to be held on June 11, are yet to reach the Election Commission (EC).
Anil Kumar Jha, Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka, told The Hindu that while one news channel provided visuals to the Returning Officer, Legislative Assembly, another is yet to comply with the direction.
“If the Returning Officer could provide footage of the two channels by Monday, a report will be submitted to the EC at the earliest,” he said.
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Mr. Jha had asked Returning Officer, Legislative Assembly, S. Murthy, to get unedited version of the video footage and submit the same to the Election Commission.
One footage submitted
However, sources in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly Secretariat said that so far, only one channel had submitted the footage and the Returning Officer was not happy with the same.
“Visual footage submitted by one channel are not in conformity with the request. While we asked for unedited version of complete footage of the sting operation, what we got is an edited footage. Again, we have asked that particular channel to resubmit the unedited version without delay,” said a senior officer on condition of anonymity.
Because of this delay, the decision by the Election Commission on the issue is likely to be delayed, said the official.
The sting operation purportedly showed a few legislators negotiating for huge money in exchange of their votes for the Rajya Sabha polls.