The BJP opposed petitions filed by CM D K Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, seeking to quash the criminal defamation complaint against them. (File Photos)The BJP on Thursday claimed before the Karnataka High Court that it lost 40 seats in the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections because of a ‘Corruption Rate Card’ advertisement published in newspapers by the Congress, days ahead of the polls.Advocate Vinod Kumar M, representing the BJP, argued, “Newspaper advertisements published by them continuously for five days before the elections; because of the advertisement, we lost 40 seats.”Kumar made the submission while opposing petitions filed by Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, former chief minister Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, seeking to quash the criminal defamation complaint registered against them by the BJP in 2023. The complaint is pending before the special court handling cases filed against sitting and former MPs/MLAs.Justice M Nagaprasanna, who heard the case, asked, “But for this (advertisement) you would have won 40 seats?” Kumar replied, saying, “Yes…we would have won.” Kumar also said that since the defamatory articles “which did not have even one per cent of truth in it” were published three days before the elections, the BJP had no opportunity to explain to the public that the allegations were false. “The impact of this defamatory article has changed the government. They should not be allowed to repeat it,” he said.Also Read | ‘Abuse of legal process’: Karnataka High Court quashes BJP’s 2023 defamation case against Rahul Gandhi over ‘corruption rate card’ ads‘This is only mudslinging’Senior Advocate Shashi Kiran Shetty, appearing for the petitioners, cited the judgment passed by a coordinate bench that quashed the complaint against Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, who was also named as an accused in the complaint. Shetty said the matter is covered by the order passed in the Rahul Gandhi case and sought the same relief be extended to the present petitioners.However, Kumar contended that this case was different as they had published the articles in the newspaper. “Their (petitioners) contention is that it is a fair comment; then fair comment should be tested through trial, and the complaint should not be quashed.”Justice M Nagaprasanna, who heard the case, said, “This is only mudslinging; if all of you work over policies and welfare of the people, such cases would not come.”The bench then reserved its order.Story continues below this adAlso Read | Congress replies to EC notice on ‘corruption rate card’ campaignWhat was the defamation complaint?The Karnataka BJP had filed a complaint with a magistrate’s court after ‘Corruption Rate Card’ advertisements were published in a newspaper, claiming that various government posts and transfers under the then-BJP government carried fixed “rates” and “commissions”. The BJP alleged that the advertisement was defamatory, false, and based on “fanciful imagination”. The court took cognisance of the complaint.In February, the high court quashed the complaint against Rahul Gandhi, saying, “Allowing the proceedings to continue would amount to an abuse of the process of law. Proceedings so far as the petitioner (Gandhi) is concerned is set aside.”