Bangalore, Aug 10: The level of political debate in Karnataka has been touching new lows in every election.
Amidst the intense campaign for the August 21 Mandya Lok Sabha byelection, former Janata Dal (Secular) MLA from Mandya city, M Srinivas, scraped the bottom of the barrel in public decency on Friday.
At a meeting in Srirangapatna, in the presence of senior leader N Cheluvarayaswamy and JD(S) candidate C S Puttaraju,Srinivas said: “Who is Ramya's father? What caste does she belong to? Is she a test-tube baby?”
Srinivas contended that Ramya, in her affidavit submitted to the Election Commission, has not filled in her father's name and caste.
Further, he said Ramya did not even know how many taluks were there in Mandya district or know any of the local workers and leaders.
“She does not belong to Mandya. So why should the public elect her to Parliament?” he asked.
Even as Congress workers burnt Srinivas's effigy in Mandya, former prime minister and JD(S) national president H D Deve Gowda said in KR Pet, “Making such comments about a woman is wrong. It is in very bad taste.”
Housing Minister M H Ambareesh, Ramya's mentor, said, “Srinivas should have controlled himself. He should learn to respect others. Speaking ill about a woman who has just lost her father is inhuman. All of us are test-tube babies in politics and we are still in LKG.”
Ambareesh said Ramya's parents are from Mandya and her grandfather was the president of the Mandya city municipal council. “She comes from a political background.”
Ramya is still in mourning after she lost her foster father R T Narayan few days ago.
Congress leaders came down heavily on Srinivas. The party has said Srinivas is indulging in “third class politics” and no leader should speak on personal issues related to any candidate or party worker.
Mandya deputy commissioner seeks report
The Mandya deputy commissioner, who is the returning officer for the byelection, has sought a video recording of Srinivas' speech and a report from Srirangapatna tahsildar. D N Krishnaiah said after going through details of the speech that action will be initiated against Srinivas under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which prohibits people from making vulgar statements or personal attacks. "I have to ascertain facts before proceeding with the law" he added.
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