Lok Sabha Elections 20204: EC books BJP MP Tejasvi Surya ‘for seeking votes on ground of religion’

Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya, a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has been charged with violating election rules by allegedly seeking votes based on religious grounds. The Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka confirmed the case, stating that Tejasvi Surya posted a video on X handle soliciting votes in the name of religion, leading to his booking under section 123(3) of the law.

The complaint against Surya was lodged at Jayanagar Police Station in Bengaluru. In addition to this case, five complaints were filed with the Election Commission on the same day. These included instances such as Karnataka’s Chief Minister Siddaramaiah reportedly canvassing and speaking to workers inside a polling booth in Mysuru, an ex-councillor named Venkatesh allegedly distributing cash to voters in a polling booth in the Kolar constituency, and AICC Youth President Srinivas engaging in protest activities on polling day, thereby violating the Model Code of Conduct.

Earlier during the day, Tejasvi Surya cast his vote in Bengaluru South and made predictions about the Congress party’s performance in the Lok Sabha polls, estimating they may not secure more than 30 seats.

The voting on this day covered 14 seats in Karnataka as part of the second phase of Lok Sabha elections, which encompassed a total of 88 Lok Sabha constituencies across 13 States/Union Territory. These included states like Rajasthan, Kerala, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, and union territories like Tripura, Manipur, and Jammu and Kashmir.

The voting demographics included 34.8 lakh first-time voters and 3.28 crore young voters aged between 20 to 29 years. A total of 1202 candidates, including males, females, and individuals identifying as the third gender, contested in this phase.