The Election Commission has issued a notice to Congress MLA Raju Kage, also known as Bharamgouda Alagouda Kage for his alleged controversial remarks during an election campaign in Madabavi, Belagavi, on April 30. Kage has been given 24 hours to respond to the notice.
The notice was issued on Thursday following complaints that Kage threatened voters in the Madabhavi village of the Belagavi district in Karnataka, with a "power cut" if they did not vote for the Congress party by a significant margin during the Lok Sabha campaign.
"If I don't get more votes this time, I will disconnect your electricity," Kage is heard saying in a purported video of his April 30 speech that has gone viral on social media.
The Assistant Returning Officer of the Kagavad Vidhan Sabha Constituency sent the notice, indicating a potential violation of the Election Code of Conduct.
The Kagwad MLA quit the BJP and joined Congress before the state assembly election.
{{/usCountry}}The Kagwad MLA quit the BJP and joined Congress before the state assembly election.
{{/usCountry}}The alleged remarks by Kage have drawn sharp criticism from BJP National spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala, who voiced his outrage on social media, questioning the ethos of the Congress party. He posted on X, "Is the Congress party a 'Mohabbat Ki Dukan' (shop of love), or a 'Dhamki ki Bhaijaan' (brotherhood of threats and hate)?"
Poonawala went on to mention other instances where Congress leaders made threatening remarks.
"A Karnataka Congress MLA threatens voters, saying that if they don't vote for him, he will cut off their electricity. A few days ago, DK ShivKumar went into society threatening that if they don't vote for his brother, their water supply and other things would be cut off. Before this, another Karnataka minister threatened a youth, saying that if you vote for Modi, you'll be hit with stones and beaten up. Many Congress leaders speak in the language of threats. They don't consider the people as divine or god-like; they see them as their servants, which is why they often have a threatening or blackmailing attitude," Poonawala said in a post on X.
Polling for Karnataka with 28 Lok Sabha seats are being held in two phases. Voting for 14 seats had concluded on April 26 while the remaining 14 seats will undergo polling on May 7. The counting of votes is scheduled for June 4.
In 2019, BJP almost swept the State by winning 25 out of 28 seats, while Congress and JD-S -- who were running a coalition government in the state -- could only win one seat each.
This time BJP and JD-S are in coalition with the former fighting on 25 seats, while the latter is contesting three seats.