Election procedure highly irregular, alleges Monappa Bhandary

Election procedure highly irregular, alleges Monappa Bhandary

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Mar 7, 2012: Monappa Bhandary, the BJP spokesperson, declared at a press meet held in the district office of the BJP that the election of the mayor of Mangalore city was fraught with irregularities and should therefore be considered illegal. 

Stating that the regional commissioner’s notice on election procedure does not contain any stipulation to the effect that caste certificates must be compulsorily attached, he said that the election officer is duty bound to inform candidates regarding such requirements.

Mr. Bhandary also said that the caste certificate issued by the tahsildar was rejected without any proper explanation, clearly indicating that the election officer had acted under external pressure. He also remarked that the election officer’s legal knowledge is poor. 

Stating that the BJP criticizes the election commissioner’s decision to reject Ms. Bangera’s nomination, he said that the party will discuss this issue and will take action against it. 

MP Nalin Kumar Kateel; Yogish Bhat, the deputy speaker of the Karnataka legislative assembly; Padmanabha Kottary, the district BJP president; Sudhakar Joshi, the member of the BJP Lawyers’ Forum; and Shrikar Prabhu, the local BJP leader, were also present at the press conference.