The Hindu

Udupi, Apr 29: Deviprasad Shetty, president of the Udupi district unit of Janata Dal (Secular), said on Tuesday that chances of witnessing a free and fair election in the Udupi-Chikmagalur constituency were remote as government officials were lenient towards the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This was best illustrated in the case of IAS officer and Joint Secretary to Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa B.G. Nanda Kumar, he said.

Addressing presspersons here Mr. Shetty said that Mr. Kumar had come to Chikmagalur on April 26 to not only canvass for the BJP but also to distribute money among voters. It came to light when the workers of the Congress, Janata Dal (Secular), and the Communist Party of India d(CPI) surrounded the place where he had been put in at Chikmagalur and the authorities began checking it.

This was indicative of how the official machinery was being misused by the BJP to ensure victory for its candidate D.V. Sadananda Gowda there. “What happened to the BJP’s tall claims of being a party with a difference?,” he asked.

Since the BJP was not confident of Mr. Sadananda Gowda’s victory in this constituency, they were trying all kinds of tricks. The Election Commission should order an impartial probe into Mr. Kumar’s episode. “This episode is a shame for the State and a blot on country’s democracy. Mr. Sadananda Gowda should retire from contest,” he said.

Mr. Sadananda Gowda had offered money to the priests when he visited the Neklaje Kalikamba temple and Sri Venkataramana temple at Karkala during his campaign on April 24. These two incidents had been reported by a Kannada daily on April 26. But the BJP was raising a hue and cry over former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda offering “dakshina”, Mr. Shetty said.

The BJP had arranged for a dinner (“Baad oota”) to its workers at Ambalpady, near Udupi, on April 19. But the party leadership claimed that it was part of “Bhuta tambil”, a ritual. If that was so, why were Home Minister V.S. Acharya and MLA K. Raghupati Bhat, both Brahmins, present during that ritual? Non-vegetarian food was served to the participants at the end of that ritual. Some presspersons received threat-calls and they were told not to report the “Baad oota” in their newspapers, he charged.