With exactly a month remaining for the Karnataka polls this year, Karnataka Horticulture Minister, Munirathna Raidu, his words and his actions have become a major talking point in the state and elsewhere. On Sunday, Munirathna was booked for allegedly distributing sarees to voters, which, if found to be true, is a violation to the model code of conduct prior to the state elections.
Munirathna represents the Rajarajeshwari Nagar constituency of Karnataka’s Bengaluru, along with whom have been booked by the police, BJP leader VC Chandru and two other unknown people. The Rajarajeshwari police have filed a case under sections 171(b) and 171(e) of the IPC, along with sections 123(1) and 123(2) of the Representation of the People Act.
On Sunday, Election Commission flying squad leader, Mukesh Kumar, filed the complaint following finding 5 sarees with Munirathna’s photo on them. The sarees were thrown on the roadside near the Global Academy of Technology in the Rajarajeshwari area of Bengaluru.
But this is not the first time that Munirathna has been booked by election officials after the model code of conduct has been put in place. A case was filed a few days back against the BJP minister for his ‘hate speech’ against Christians. In what can be a major setback for the BJP in the state prior to the polls, in a statement of his, Munirathna said, “Christians come to your house to convert. If Christians enter your area, thrash them and chase them away. You should thrash them in such a way that they do not enter the area again. I will take of the situation later”.
