EC asks K'taka poll officer to act on complaint by Deve Gowda on freebies

The Election Commission has directed the chief electoral officer of Karnataka to take "immediate appropriate action" on a complaint filed by JD (S) president H D Deve Gowda that Congress MP D K Suresh was allegedly planning distribution of freebies and the state poll machinery failed to take swift action.

In a letter to the state CEO, the EC asked him to take action keeping in mind the provisions of the model code of conduct and relevant laws, and sought a compliance report at the earliest.

The EC letter was sent out on March 21 based on a complaint of former prime minister Gowda to the poll panel.

The JD(S) leader has alleged that the state election machinery failed to take swift action to prevent the "corrupt activities" in the Bengaluru (Rural) Lok Sabha seat.

He alleged that the freebies were removed from a godown as the field machinery failed to take appropriate action.

"...there is not only dereliction of duties by the concerned officer but the officers are afraid of taking action against the present MP, who is the brother of D K Shivkumar, deputy chief minister..." Gowda alleged.