Karnataka elections 2018: Siddaramaiah slams BJP leader for tweeting in Hindi

Karnataka Assembly elections are less than a month away and Congress and BJP are slamming each other on social media platforms at every opportunity.

This time Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah has hit out at BJP general secretary P Muralidhar Rao for tweeting in Hindi about his plans to contest the May 12 polls from two constituencies. The CM asked him to tweet in Kannada or English.

This incident took place several hours after the news of Siddaramaiah contesting from another seat, Badami in North Karnataka, hit the headlines.

Rao, who is in-charge of Karnataka's BJP unit, then took to Twitter to ask Siddaramaiah, whether he chose to contest from another seat as he was scared that he wouldn't win the Chamundeshwari seat in Mysuru.

"{@Siddaramaiah ji are you scared? After much effort you chose Chamundeshwari seat, now after seeing that you will be defeated there you are searching for a second place. To end your doubt let me clarify that not only your two seats, but entire Karnataka will be Congress Mukt (Congress free)," Rao had said in a tweet in Hindi.

Siddaramaiah then replied to Rao's tweet by asking him to talk in English or Kannada.

"Sir, tweet in Kannada or English. Don't understand Hindi," he tweeted in Kannada.

The CM will be filing nomination from Badami in north Karnataka on April 24. He has already filed his nomination from Chamundeshwari constituency in Mysuru.

Siddaramaiah has said that he will be fielded from a second seat as Congress leaders from Bagalkote and Bijapur districts want him to do so.

"I have told the high command that I will contest from Chamundeshwari and not from two constituencies. However, the people of north Karnataka are pressurizing the high command that I should contest from north Karnataka too," PTI quoted the CM as saying.

Meanwhile, the issuing of B-form (which is required to be filed by a political party mentioning the name of its approved candidate) has been put on hold for Dr Devraj Patil, who was nominated as a candidate from Badami on April 15.

Moreover, Congress is fielding the CM from two constituencies as they believe that the battle in Chamundeshwari will be a tough one to fight for Sidddaramaiah.

Poll schedule:

• Date of Issue of Gazette Notification - April 17, 2018
• Last Date of Nominations - April 24, 2018
• Date for Scrutiny of Nominations - April 25, 2018
• Last Date for Withdrawal of Candidatures - April 27, 2018
• Date of Election - May 12, 2018
• Date of Counting - May 15, 2018