BJP MOVES EC AGAINST CONG
NEW DELHI: The BJP on Wednesday moved the election commission (EC), demanding action against the Congress for “playing the communal card in Karnataka to woo Muslims voters”. A BJP delegation that approached the EC, also lodged a complaint against state’s chief electoral officer (CEO) saying he was not acting on the party’s complaints. Union minister and former BJP president Nitin Gadkari led the delegation and told reporters later that they had provided “evidence” to back their charges against Congress leaders and state government officials to the election watchdog. Gadkari alleged Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mallikarjun Kharge in their campaign in a Muslim locality in the state sought the community’s votes for their party in the name of Islam. This dairy noted a few days ago that the All India Mahila Empowerment Party, which is contesting 221 of the 224 seats in the state and which is led by entrepreneur and businesswoman Nowhera Shaik, has hardly got any traction.
The 44-year-old CEO of the Heera Group — it lists interests in several areas of operations — says she has decided to get some visibility. She has managed to convince film stars, Arbaaz Khan and Sohail Khan, brothers of Salman Khan, to canvas for her candidates. The brother duo, who also addressed a press conference, said they were impressed by the work of Shaik and “her fight for justice” and would therefore seek votes for her party’s candidates.
Whether the duo can make any kind of impact remains to be seen, though. What does a candidate do when he can’t feed biryani to prospective voters because local administration and election commission officials are likely to frown on it? That is the challenge that Suresh Gowda, a Janata Dal (Secular) candidate in Nagmangala constitutency, is believed to have tackled uniquely.
On Tuesday, both young and old, men and women, were seen clutching live chickens and heading home in this rural constituency. Suresh Gowda, his opponents claim, tied up with a local butcher, who gave voters live chickens in return for an assurance that they would vote for the sponsor of that largesse.
Since some families had more voters, they were eligible for more chickens and their children were drafted to carry them home. Videos of this event and the long line near the butcher shop went viral on social media.
Opposition parties have complained to the authorities but Gowda has denied any role in the distribution of chickens. Investigations are on, a little bird tells us.