The plea filed by the Rashtriya Hindu Sena chief Pramod Muthalik seeks a direction to the Election Commission to ensure that the Congress deletes its appeal to vote on a religious basis. Photo: MintNew Delhi: A petition filed in the Supreme Court has alleged that the Congress party’s manifesto for the Karnataka elections, scheduled to take place on 12 May, has appealed for votes on the basis of religion. The plea brought by the chief of the Rashtriya Hindu Sena, Pramod Muthalik seeks a direction to the Election Commission of India (EC) to ensure that the Congress deletes its appeal to vote on a religious basis. Congress president Rahul Gandhi, with Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, on 27 April released the party’s election manifesto, which promised to launch several schemes that would benefit Muslims and members of other minority communities. The party has promised to make generous budget allocation for welfare programmes to improve the social and economic status of minorities.

Source: Mint May 08, 2018 15:56 UTC