Siddaramaiah questions PM Modi's visit to K'taka, says violation of EC code

Senior Congress leader and Karnataka’s former CM Siddaramaiah has questioned PM Narendra Modi’s visit to the state which is scheduled on April 9. This will be the Prime Minister’s eighth visit to Karnataka this year.

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Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Siddaramaiah said, “Being the Prime Minister of this country, he should be aware that there is a model code of conduct in force in Karnataka. How can he come to the state for a government event and the election commission shouldn’t allow the visit. If the EC grants permission, it will be violating model code of conduct.”

According to news agency ANI, prime minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate an event on completion of 50 years of the Tiger Project. He is also expected to go on a safari at Bandipur Tiger Reserve in Karnataka.

The assembly elections in Karnataka will be held on May 10 and the results will be announced on May 13. All 224 constituencies will go to polls in a single phase and the election battle will be majorly fought between the Congress, BJP and the Janata Dal (Secular) party. The ECI will also set up 58, 282 polling stations across 224 assembly constituencies in the state, marking the average number of voters per polling station at 883. Half of the polling stations will have a web casting facility and 1320 polling stations will be managed by women officials.