BJP asks if Congress will act against CM for comment on his 1991 ‘illegal’ poll defeat

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s statement that he was defeated illegally in 1991 Lok Sabha polls appears to have put the fuling Congress in an embarrassing situation with the BJP interpreting it as the Congress indulging in “poll malpractices” back then.

Contrasting this with the ongoing campaign of the Congress against “vote theft”, the BJP has wondered if the Congress high command would take action against Mr. Siddaramaiah on the lines of its sacking Minister K.N. Rajanna for speaking against its campaign.

While felicitating senior advocate and former chairperson of the Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission Ravivarma Kumar on completing 50 years of service in the field of law on Thursday, the Chief Minister had said that he had been defeated “illegally” in the 1991 Lok Sabha polls from Koppal and that Mr. Ravivarma Kumar had fought his case. Responding to this, Leader of the Opposition R. Ashok pointed out that Mr. Siddaramaiah, then in the undivided Janata Dal, had been defeated by Congress candidate Basavaraj Patil Anwari back then.

In a social media post, Mr. Ashok asked how Mr. Siddaramaiah could attend the Congress’s rally against “vote theft” when he himself had accused the Congress of indulging in poll malpractices earlier. He wondered if the Congress would act against Mr. Siddaramaiah too for his statement on poll malpractices against it on the lines of how it had acted against Mr. Rajanna, who is from a Scheduled Tribe community.