K’taka polls: If Congress candidates are ‘convicted criminals’, then what’s BSY doing in BJP camp?

The BJP dubbed the Congress list consisting of 218 candidates as "convicted criminals" roll.

Bengaluru, April 16: In poll-bound Karnataka, both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) simply can't stop "reacting" to each other's every move. On Sunday, when finally the incumbent Congress announced its first list of candidates for the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections, the main opposition BJP reacted in a very cheeky manner.

The BJP dubbed the Congress list consisting of 218 candidates as "convicted criminals" roll. The saffron party did not stop at that and went on putting pictures of top Congress leaders like chief minister Siddaramaiah and state minister KJ George on Twitter holding slates and announcing their "nature of crimes" (a custom generally all criminals are made to do by the police). The pictures of the Congress leaders are real but the slates were digitally designed by the 'expert' BJP social media team.

The BJP posted three tweets with pictures of various Congress leaders holding slates and announcing their crimes. While all the three tweets read the same, but in every tweet pictures of different Congress leaders were posted by the BJP.

"We are confused about this list of candidates released by Congress. If you read some of the names from the list, it looks more like a list of to be convicted criminals. Such mind-blowing credentials. Take a look," read the BJP tweet.

Earlier, the BJP in its very first list of candidates for the polls gave a ticket to state BJP president and the party's chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa. Yeddyurappa, who is also known as BSY, will contest elections from the Shikaripura constituency. BSY is perhaps the BJP's most high-profile candidate who has been sent to jail on corruption charges.

In March, BJP president Amit Shah in a slip of tongue called the previous Yeddyurappa regime "the most corrupt government in Karnataka". "The government headed by Mr Yeddyurappa was the most corrupt in the history of Karnataka," said Shah by mistake which left everyone's jaws opened.

In his earlier stint as the state CM, the 75-year-old BJP leader was forced to step down in August 2011 after a report by the then Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hedge found him guilty of corruption. In the BJP's list of candidates, it is not just Yeddyurappa whose credentials are under question. Controversial leader B Sriramulu, who shares close-ties with "corrupt" Reddy brothers from Bellary, will contest the Assembly polls from Molakalmuru in Chitradurga district as a BJP candidate.

So, when the BJP makes a hue and cry over the Congress' "convicted criminals" list, it looks rather funny for a layman. Both the Congress and the BJP are guilty of fielding candidates with criminal records elections after elections in the country. Hopefully, the voters this time will teach "criminal" candidates a lesson by voting against them in the Karnataka elections.

In March, the Election Commission (EC) announced the polling date for the Karnataka elections. The elections to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly will take place on May 12. The results of the elections will be declared on May 15.