Sindhia accused of wooing voters with freebies

Youth Congress leaders from Bangalore Urban district on Wednesday lodged a complaint with the Office of Chief Electoral Officer (OCEO), Karnataka, alleging that JD(S) leader P G R Sindhia was distributing sarees, groceries and money to voters in the Kanakapura Assembly constituency.

Youth Congress leader Kemparaju told reporters that Sindhia had been distributing a bag containing these items as Ugadi gift to voters.

Besides, the JD(S) leader had been threatening all officers on election work in the constituency saying the chief electoral officer Anil Kumar Jha was very close to him and that they would face dire consequences if they refused to co-operate with him, he alleged.

The complainant also submitted many gift bags Sindhia was allegedly distributing to voters to the OCEO. Sindhia is the JD(S) candidate from Kanakapura. Interestingly, he had recently made a similar allegation against D K Shivakumar who is contesting from Kanakapura as the Congress candidate.

When contacted, Sindhia said the Congress leaders had filed a false complaint against him to counter his charges that he recently made against Shivakumar.