Karnataka election: Congress meets EC, demands disqualification of Sriramulu over bribery video

A day before Karnataka Assembly election 2018, the Congress on Friday demanded the Election Commission to disqualify BJP candidate B Sriramulu from contesting polls over a video allegedly showing him trying to a bribe a former chief justice of India’s relative.

“We have requested the Election Commission to disqualify B Sriramulu from contesting the election,” senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal told reporters after meeting the poll panel.

The Congress party also demanded registration of an FIR against Sriramulu and all others who were involved in the alleged bribery attempt.

“On the basis of the video in which BJP’s Sriramulu and son in law of ex-CJI were seen talking about bribes that were given, an FIR should be registered,” Sibal said.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Congress had released two videos allegedly showing BJP leaders Sriramulu and G Janardhana Reddy negotiating a bribe to the son-in-law of a former chief justice of India to influence the verdict in a mining case.

The videos also appeared on a local channel in Karnataka. Later, state electoral authorities directed channels not to air the videos.

Also Read | Karnataka Assembly Polls 2018: Know all about key constituencies and candidates

Meanwhile, the Karnataka Police addressed a press conference and assured that it had made all the necessary security arrangments before the polling on Saturday.

"The law and order situation is under control and the Election Commission is satisfied with it. We have deployed 82,157 police and home guards and 585 central forces companies across the state,” a state police official said.

(With inputs from agencies)