BJP accuses harassment by officials, lodges complaints before ECI

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI) charging that the officers in the state were targeting the BJP leaders and workers on the pretext of moral code of conduct.

A delegation led by Union minister Prakash Javadekar, the BJP's in-charge for Karnataka polls, met the election commissioner and filed the complaint.

Minister of Chemicals and Fertilisers Ananth Kumar, P Muralidhar Rao, party's in charge of Karnataka affairs, former deputy chief minister R Ashoka and MP P C Mohan were part of the delegation.

According to the BJP, the officers in the state removed flags that had Om symbol tied atop houses of party workers hurting religious sentiments. The officers had directed the party workers to erase the BJP symbol on walls of houses.

The BJP's contention is that fixing the BJP symbol and flags on houses don't come under purview of moral code of conduct. Therefore, action should be taken against officials for trespassing their limits.