The Election Commission on Tuesday said there was “no malafide intention” in the checking to which BSP leader Mayawati was subjected to during campaigning in poll-bound Karnataka.
Mayawati, while campaigning in Karnataka’s Gulbarga district on April 27, was stopped for checking at the airport and a total of Rs 1 lakh was found in her possession. She had objected to the act and alleged “bias”.
Replying to BSP leader Satish Chandra Misra’s complaint to the Chief Election Commissioner alleging “harassment and humiliation” at the hands of the poll staff in Karnataka, EC said its officials were “only doing their duty”
EC said as per Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), issued by the Bureau of Civil Aviation, Security, all passengers excepting those who are specified in the exempted category (which includes Congress President Sonia Gandhi in the list of 31 exempted persons), shall be subject to frisking and checking of baggage even at remote/uncontrolled airports.
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