New Delhi [India], April 25 : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) delegation complained to the Election Commission for alleged malicious, false, unverified and defamatory advertisements by the Congress party in all notable newspapers.
In its letter to the ECI, the BJP said, "This is to bring to your kind notice that, today, i.e. on April 24, just two days before the poll, the Congress party published totally false, malicious and defamatory news advertisements in the front page of almost all notable newspapers."
The BJP alleged that the Congress Party has published an advertisement with the heading 'Chambu' to portray that the Central Government has cheated the state of Karnataka.
"It has published an advertisement with the heading 'Chambu' along with its picture. The word 'Chambu' is a slang term used to refer to 'being cheated or empty promise'. The insinuation of the Congress party by publishing such an advertisement is to portray that the Central Government has cheated the state of Karnataka," the letter said.
The party in its letter also shared some of the advertisements published in the notable newspapers.
The BJP alleged that the Congress knowing fully well about the above actual statistics has falsely made the advertisement on the front pages of notable newspapers after severe deliberations and calculations, in order to prejudice the minds of the voters, to influence the outcome of the elections by making false statements without any basis.
"This advertisement will have serious implications on the outcome of the election, which is violative of the Model Code of Conduct and the Representative of the People Act. The said ad grossly violates the provisions enshrined under the Model Code of Conduct," the letter added.
The 28 seats of Karnataka are going to polls in two phases -- April 26 and May 7. The counting is scheduled for June 4.
BJP registered a strong performance in the state in the 2019 general elections as it won 25 out of 28 seats.