New Delhi/Bengaluru, June 23 (IANS) Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Karnataka Assembly Opposition leader R. Ashoka, along with State party President and MLA B.Y. Vijayendra, on Tuesday met the party President Nitin Nabin in New Delhi and briefed him on the alleged cross-voting by BJP legislators during the recently concluded Karnataka Legislative Council elections.

Addressing reporters after the meeting, both leaders said the party’s national leadership had taken serious note of the development and assured that appropriate action would be taken after gathering all relevant information.

Speaking to the media, B.Y. Vijayendra said, “We have comprehensively placed all the facts related to the cross-voting before National President Nitin Nabin. He had already gathered preliminary information about the matter and indicated that strict action would be inevitable. He also informed us that the party would independently collect additional information and asked us to provide any further details available with us.”

Vijayendra added that the BJP’s national leadership also reviewed organisational matters and stressed the need to strengthen the party in Karnataka.

“The BJP President (Nitin Nabin) directed us to focus on strengthening the party organisation and work towards bringing the BJP back to power in the state. We have been asked to intensify our efforts in that direction,” he said.

When asked how the BJP planned to identify those responsible for the alleged cross-voting, Vijayendra expressed confidence that the facts would emerge.

“We (BJP) are a party that governs at the Centre. The party’s Central leadership has its own mechanisms to gather information. The process of identifying those involved will be taken up, and we are confident that the truth will come out,” he said.

Karnataka Assembly Opposition leader R. Ashoka said the BJP’s national leadership had asked the party’s state unit to leave the matter in its hands.

“The national leaders told us to leave the issue to them. They had already gathered certain information but did not share any details with us. They asked us to submit whatever information we have and assured us that they would conduct their own assessment as well,” Ashoka added.

He said that the BJP Central leadership had sought additional inputs from the party’s state unit regarding the developments surrounding the Karnataka Legislative Council election.

Responding to questions on whether the election outcome represented a setback for the BJP, Ashoka rejected the suggestion.

“There is no setback for the BJP. We won both the seats that the party contested. However, cross-voting did take place, and since the NDA-backed candidate was defeated, we have sought time to gather more information about the circumstances that led to it,” he said.

Asked whether the state leaders had been instructed to return to Delhi for further discussions, Ashoka added that no such directions had been issued.

The BJP leadership has constituted a fact-finding exercise to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the alleged cross-voting, which has triggered political debate within the party following the Legislative Council elections.

–IANS

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