Bengaluru: In connection to bypoll in Kundgol constituency, a team from election commission and income tax and enforcement directorate officials raided two hotels at Hubballi in which Karnataka water resource minister D K Shivakumar and some Congress and JD(S) leaders were apparently staying.
The sleuths recovered gold utensils and several other materials that were allegedly meant for bribing voters in the constituency, said a media report. The raids were apparently carried out to curb election-related malpractices.
According to media reports, D K Shivakumar was staying at one of the hotels when the raid took place. Gold utensils, party caps and photograph of former MLA of Kundgol C S Shivalli, whose widow Kusumavathi is contesting election, was seized from a room where congress worker Shivakumar Chandrashekhar Gokavi was staying. A police complaint was registered against Gokavi for violation of the Model Code of Conduct.
Chincholi and Kundgol are going to poll on 19 May. Chincholi is going for bypolls as the sitting Congress MLA Dr Umesh Jadhav resigned from the assembly to join BJP and contest the Lok Sabha election from Gulbarga on BJP ticket against Congress stalwart Mallikarjun Kharge. Kundgol seat fell vacanta few months ago following the death of sitting MLA C S Shivalli.
The BJP has given ticket to Jadhavs son Avinash to contest from Chincholi who would have a direct fight with Congress candidate Subhash Rathod.