BENGALURU: The Karnataka Congress unit has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of violating the model code of conduct by seeking votes in the name of the Armed Forces. Senior Congress leader and former chairman of the Karnataka Legislative Council VR Sudharshan said they have filed a complaint with the Election Commission (EC). He said the PM, in his speech on Tuesday at Chitradurga in Karnataka and at Ausa near Latur in Maharashtra, had asked first-time voters to “dedicate their vote to the Air Force, which carried out the air strikes at Balakot, and to those jawans who were martyred in Pulwama.”
Meanwhile, talking to reporters in Davangere, KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao said if PM Modi created more jobs for the youth, he would not have sought their votes in the name of the soldiers. “Modi is taking the Army’s name for electoral gains,” he said, adding that Modi was also using Pakistan as a rhetoric to target the opposition.“If we complain against him to the EC, no action will be taken as Modi is controlling the commission. We have lost faith in the EC, there is no use lodging a complaint,” he said. Meanwhile, the BJP unit in Raichur has objected to the Congress candidate using the Armed Forces to get votes.
MP and Congress candidate BV Nayak stated that the BJP’s reaction against the Pulwama attack was simply a mock war, while the Congress had gotten into a ‘real war’ against Pakistan. The complaint filed by state executive member of the party Trivikram Joshi stated that by making such statements, the Congress candidate highlighted the achievements of the Defence to seek votes. Joshi said officials have collected video footage of his statements and are analysing it.