Bengaluru, June 20 (IANS) Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel and JD(S) State President H.D. Kumaraswamy on Saturday alleged irregularities in the recently concluded Karnataka Legislative Council election and demanded a thorough investigation into the poll process.

He was speaking to reporters in Bengaluru.

Referring to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s recent remarks urging citizens to report instances of bribery by government officials, Kumaraswamy questioned whether similar scrutiny would be applied to the Council election.

“The Chief Minister has said that people should report if anyone asks for even Rs 10 as a bribe. If that is the standard, then much more than Rs 10 may have changed hands during this election. The government should investigate to whom such complaints can be made,” Kumaraswamy said.

Addressing reports that he had told party legislators that “their path is theirs” during a recent meeting, Kumaraswamy clarified that he had only urged MLAs to be transparent about their political intentions.

He explained that he told legislators that if they felt remaining in JD(S) would affect their future prospects, they should say so openly and leave with courage rather than engage in double standards. “I said this directly to them,” he added.

The JD(S) leader maintained that he was willing to allow any legislator to leave the party amicably if they believed their political future lay elsewhere.

Kumaraswamy also clarified that the party had not entered the Legislative Council election with expectations of victory. According to him, the decision to field a candidate was aimed at assessing the party’s internal strength and understanding the prevailing political situation.

“I did not enter the race believing we would win. The purpose was to assess the political situation that may emerge in the future and to test whether leaders in the party would take decisions with conviction under the current circumstances,” he said.

Commenting on the election outcome, Kumaraswamy said cross-voting and unexpected developments were not uncommon in such contests. He added that it was time to move forward and focus on future political challenges rather than dwell on the results.

–IANS

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