Voter moves Karnataka High Court to set aside election of CM Siddaramaiah; says freebies in Congress manifesto amount to electoral malpractice

An election petition has been filed before the Karnataka High Court to set aside the 2023 election of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah from the Varuna constituency for allegedly indulging in electoral malpractices during the recently concluded assembly elections in the State..The petition filed by a voter from the Varuna constituency, KM Shankara came up for hearing on Friday before Justice S Sunil Dutt Yadav who asked the petitioner to rectify office objections in the petition and listed the matter for hearing on July 28..The plea, filed through Senior Advocate Pramila Nesargi, has challenged the election of Siddaramaiah from the Varuna constituency under Sections 100 (1)(b), (d)(i), (d)(ii), (d)(iii), and (d)(iv) of The Representation of the People Act.The petitioner alleged that the CM committed various corrupt practices under Sections 123(1)(A)(b)(ii), 123(1)(B)(b), 123(2), 123(4) and 123(6) of the Act.The petitioner sought that Siddaramaiah's election be rendered void and that he be debarred from contesting elections for six years due to his violation of the provisions of the Act and the Constitution..Referring to the Congress party's election manifesto that was shared online by various leaders of the party, the plea contended that the offering of handouts by candidates by virtue of their political party was never envisaged by the Act or the Constitution."Political parties should avoid making those promises which are likely to vitiate the purity of the election process or exert undue influence on the voters in exercising their franchise," the plea emphasized..The Congress party's manifesto provided five guarantees to the people of Karnataka:'Gruha Jyothi' - 200 units of free electricity to all houses'Gruha Lakshmi' - ₹2,000 every month to each and every woman head of a family'Anna Bhagya' - 10 kilograms of food grain per month to every member of a below poverty line (BPL) family'Yuva Nidhi' - ₹3,000 per month for two years to unemployed graduates and ₹1,500 per month for two years to unemployed diploma holders.'Uchita Prayana/Shakthi' - free travel to all women throughout the state in regular KSRTC/BMTC Buses..These five guarantees, as per the plea, amount to bribery and undue influence under Section 123(2) of the Act. It stated that the manifesto was promulgated with Siddaramaiah's consent and that the guarantees amounted to gratification to the electorate of Varuna constituency to induce them to vote for the party.The petition also submitted that some of the guarantees are violative of Article 14 of the Indian Constitution as they discriminate on the basis of gender.