Bengaluru: A day before half of Karnataka voted in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, BJP’s Tejasvi Surya, who is seeking re-election from Bengaluru South constituency, was booked by the state’s chief electoral officer (CEO).
The charge against Tejasvi is that he sought votes on the ground of religion.
“Case is booked against Tejasvi Surya MP and Candidate of Bengaluru South PC on 25.04.24 at Jayanagar PS u/s 123(3) for posting a video in ‘X’ handle and soliciting votes on the ground of religion,” Karnataka’s CEO tweeted on Friday amid polling.
Tejasvi, who is contesting against Congress’ Sowmya Reddy in Bengaluru South, made several appeals to voters to come out and cast their votes.
In the last video, around 2 pm, he mentioned Ram Mandir and Article 370 as he appealed electors to utilise the last four hours of voting to the fullest.
Tejasvi, who himself cast his vote early in the day, launched a scathing attack on Congress, saying that the grand old party may not win more than 30 seats across India.
Karnataka will vote in two phases to send 28 MPs to the 18th Lok Sabha.
Polling was held on Friday in 14 constituencies, while the other 14 will vote on May 7.