Before the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Bangalore, the BJP has filed a defamation complaint against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, and the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC).
Sections 499 (defamation) and 500 (punishment for defamation) of the Indian Penal Code (criminal cases involving elected former and sitting MPs/MLAs) have been deemed to have been violated, and a date of July 27 has been set for the affidavit to be recorded.
On Tuesday, summonses were issued to all parties involved in this case. On May 9, S Keshavaprasad, the state secretary of the BJP, lodged a private complaint alleging false claims in advertisements that tarnish the party’s reputation.
BJP Files Defamation Case Against them
According to the complaint, the KPCC published an ad in major publications on May 5, 2023, ahead of the Assembly election, claiming that the incumbent was corrupt.
The claim that the BJP government engaged in “40% corruption” and stole Rs 1.5 lakh crore over the previous four years is “unfounded, biased, and defamatory.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed the Congress on the issue of corruption on Sunday (30 April), stating that the grand old party had always been associated with “85 percent commission” and that its “shahi parivar” (royal family) was out on bail in relation to scams involving thousands of crores of rupees.
Addressing three rallies in ‘Old Mysuru’ (South Karnataka), where the BJP is considered to be vulnerable and is focusing on gaining more seats in this Vokkaliga-dominated region in order to return to power with a majority, he slammed opponents JD(S) and Congress as a “sign of instability”.
He cautioned the people that they could not afford to place the state’s future in the hands of the Congress, a party “whose main objective is to serve a family sitting in Delhi,” and the JD(S), which is “completely a family-run private limited party.”
