Siddaramaiah 'forced out' of Mysore Lok Sabha constituency

High drama was witnessed here on the eve of Lok Sabha elections, on Wednesday night, when the workers of both Congress and BJP staged protest and counterprotest in front of the deputy commissioner’s office over the alleged stay of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the city. 

While the saffron party workers termed Siddaramaiah’s stay as violation of the election code of conduct, Congress workers protested against the agitators.

Eventually, the issue subsided after Siddaramaiah left the constituency, as informed to the agitators over phone by Deputy Commissioner C Shikha, who also the district election officer.

Earlier, scores of BJP workers led by the party candidate Pratap Simha and MLC Go Madhusudhan and several others staged a demonstration for nearly one and half hours.

Madhusudhan alleged that the chief minister had been staying at his house in TK Layout in the city, to woo the voters on the eve of the elections to Lok Sabha on April 17.

According to the Representation of the People Act, “the presence of political functionaries, party workers, procession functionaries and campaign functionaries etc who have been brought from outside the constituency and who are not voters of the constituency, should not continue to remain present in the constituency as their continued presence after campaign ends may undermine the atmosphere for free and fair poll.’

Before launching the protest, Madhusudhan had lodged a complaint with the deputy commissioner demanding the banishment of the chief minister from the constituency, as he was not a voter of the constituency. 

“According to the electoral roll Siddaramaiah is a voter of Siddaramanahundi (part number 82, serial 274) coming under Varuna Assembly constituency in Chamarajanagar LS constituency,” he said.

Learning about the BJP protest, a section of Congress workers staged a protest in front of court complex, only to shift their venue later to deputy commissioner’s office. By then the BJP agitators had already vacated the spot.

According to sources in the police, in contrast to BJP protest, the chief minister vacated in the afternoon itself, after staying at his house for sometime. He is staying at a supporter’s house outside the city.