Election Commission, I-T Department literally harassing me, my family, says Kumaraswamy

Karwar: Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy accused the Election Commission and the Income Tax Department of harassing him and his family.

"The Election Commission and Income Tax Department are literally harassing me and my family. Let the EC officials perform their duties, but don't harass us over mere suspicion," Kumaraswamy said.

He claimed that his car was searched at least 13 to 14 times in the past two days. He alleged that his car was checked twice within a distance of 60 kilometres on Thursday.

Speaking to the media after JD (S) candidate Anand Asnotikar filed his nomination papers for the Uttara Kannada constituency, Kumaraswamy said, "Our car was searched twice between Gokarna and Karwar — a distance of 60km. My son and JD(S) candidate Nikhil were also around during the search. The Election Commission is pressuring the police to search our vehicles."

The Chief Minister also claimed that a record number of officials have been transferred since the election notification was issued.

"Never in the history of Karnataka were so many officials transferred during any election," he said.

He also stated that he had lost grip over the administration due to BJP's attempts to destabilise his government.

"The repeated attempts by BJP to topple my government created uncertainty and officials were not under control. Now the situation is better," Kumaraswamy said.

Seven phased elections in the country will begin on April 11 and will go on till May 19. Counting of votes will be done on May 23. Karnataka will go to polls on April 18 and 23.