 "DK Shivakumar, Karnataka elections")
Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, D K Shivakumar, has responded to the notice sent by the Election Commission of India (ECI). The notice was about Karnataka government advertisements in several newspapers circulated in poll-bound Telangana. Shivakumar said that the ads do not ask people to vote for Congress, an ANI report said.
Shivakumar added that the notice sent by the Election Commission of India is not as per the law. The Congress leader told ANI, "Politically, we have not asked for votes. Whatever our government has done in our state, there are a lot of Telugu-speaking people here, a lot of other language-speaking people also live here, so we have given advertisements what we have done in our government. We've not asked for votes. We only gave advertisements on the works done by our government here."
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On Monday, November 27, the Election Commission issued a notice to the Karnataka government for publishing advertisements about welfare schemes and achievements in several newspapers in poll-bound Telangana and said that it was a violation of the Model Code of Conduct.
"The Commission has observed that certain advertisements highlighting welfare schemes and achievements of the central government and state governments are being published by some non-poll-going state governments in the editions of newspapers in the States where elections are going on. The Commission considers this to be a violation of the spirits of the Model Code of Conduct," the ECI said, according to the ANI report.
The ECI said that it has been brought to the notice of the Commission by the BJP vide their representation dated November 27 and by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) vide their representation dated November 25 that the Karnataka government has published advertisements of various welfare schemes and achievements in Telangana on November 24 to 27 in the Hyderabad edition of several newspapers.
The Commission further said that in future, all such advertisements issued by non-poll-going state governments during the Model Code of Conduct period shall be forwarded to it for clearance before they are sent for publication in newspapers having editions or having circulation in the poll-bound states.
The elections in Telangana will be held on November 30, and the results will be declared on December 3. The Telangana Assembly has 119 seats, and a party needs to win at least 60 to gain a majority.
(With agency inputs)
