Copy of ‘sting’ on Karnataka RS polls to be given to Election Commission

Returning officer for the Rajya Sabha elections from Karnataka on Monday will submit to the Election Commission a report along with an unedited copy of the sting operation that purportedly showed MLAs negotiating money deal in exchange of their votes.

Returning officer for the Rajya Sabha elections from Karnataka on Monday will submit to the Election Commission a report along with an unedited copy of the sting operation that purportedly showed MLAs negotiating money deal in exchange of their votes.

“The commission has asked for an unedited copy of the sting operation. I have received copy from one channel now. The other channel is yet to submit. I will send a report along with the unedited copy to the commission and chief electoral officer Karnataka on Monday,” Karnataka legislative assembly secretary S Murthy, who is also the returning officer, told PTI.

The returning officer had submitted a prima facie written report to the Election Commission with some paper cuttings and clippings on the very next day after the sting operations were aired by two private TV news channels on Thursday.

The footage aired by one channel showed a JD(S) MLA purportedly talking about money in crores of rupees for supporting a candidate. A sting operation by another channel showed Congress candidate KC Ramamurthy and independent MLAs purportedly speaking about getting increased development funds for the constituency from the government in return for votes.