Congress leaders, led by V.S. Ugrappa, MP, submitted a memorandum asking the Election Commission to initiate criminal proceedings against B. Sriramulu, BJP leader and MLA, here on Thursday.
Mr. Ugrappa said that while campaigning for the BJP candidate for the Kundagol byelection S.I. Chikkanagoudar, Mr. Sriramulu had alleged that Congress leader C.S. Shivalli died owing to torture he had faced in the Congress and in the Congress-JD(S) coalition government.
Further, Mr. Sriramulu had urged voters to use the election to take revenge against the Congress and the coalition government by voting against the Congress nominee, he said.
The act of Mr. Sriramulu is an offence as per the provisions of Section 125 of the Representation of People Act 1951 and is also a violation of the model code of conduct, Mr. Ugrappa said.
“He made the statement with the sole intention of maligning the Congress and to woo the voters using corrupt practices. The statement of Mr. Sriramulu is reckless, irresponsible, false, offensive, and illegal in nature. If the allegations were true, Mr. Sriramulu and Mr. Chikkangoudar or the BJP could have lodged a complaint with the jurisdictional police. As per law, the concealment of information with regard to an offence is also an offence under Sections 201, 212 of the IPC,” Mr. Ugrappa said.
Thereby, the ECI has been urged to initiate appropriate criminal proceedings against Mr. Sriramulu and Mr. Chikkangoudar, he said.
Later, the Congress leaders submitted a memorandum, addressed to the ECI, to M. Deepa, District Returning Officer and Dharwad Deputy Commissioner, .
Congress leaders Swati Malagi, Devanand Ratnakar, and others were present.
