BENGALURU: Members of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) have complained to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Karnataka, alleging that Education department officials are misusing their official positions to campaign for Congress MLC candidate Puttanna in the Bangalore Teachers’ constituency election.
In a letter submitted along with NDA candidate AP Ranganath, alliance leaders alleged that teachers, staff and managements of educational institutions, particularly private unaided institutions, were being pressured to support and vote for Puttanna.
The NDA said DDPIs, DDPUs and BEOs seeking votes for a particular candidate amounted to misuse of official authority, and could not be treated as ordinary political campaigning.
The alliance urged the CEO to issue strict directions to all education department officials and field-level staff to maintain political neutrality and refrain from canvassing, influencing voters or using official meetings, WhatsApp groups, vehicles, offices or other government resources for election campaigning.
It also sought an independent inquiry into complaints of canvassing, intimidation and misuse of official positions, instead of referring them to the same departmental hierarchy.
The NDA further demanded confidentiality and protection for teachers and managements who report such incidents, warning against possible harassment, unnecessary inspections, transfers or other retaliatory action.
The alliance said teachers must be able to exercise their voting rights freely, without fear of pressure or adverse action from government officials, and called for immediate intervention to ensure a free, fair and transparent election. Leader of Opposition in the Council Chalavadi Narayanaswamy was also present.