I have been threatened not to contest from Shantinagar: AAP's Mathai

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) state spokes person K Mathai alleged that a Karnataka Administrative Service (KAS) officer had phoned him, urging him to not contest from the Shantinagar Assembly constituency.

He alleged that the officer was acting on behalf of Shantinagar MLA N.A Harris. Mathai even released an audio recording of the call, naming Elisha Andrews as the voice on the other end. The AAP leader said that he had lodged a complaint with the chief secretary over the same.  

“Elisha Andrews, a KAS officer called me on my mobile at 9 am on 13th January. He spoke for about 15 minutes, mentioned MLA NA Harris’s name several times and mentioned that he was speaking on his behalf”, Mathai said.

“While he pressurised me to not to contest elections from Shantinagar constituency, he a l s o threatened me that if I did not agree to it, I would have to face consequences. It is unfortunate that the MLAs are using officials to make such calls fearing defeat in the elections,” he added.

“As per the rules of the Government of Karnataka and the Election Commission of India, it is prohibited for any government official to participate in election campaigns on behalf of any person of any party. Therefore, I have lodged a complaint with the chief secretary demanding a departmental inquiry against Elisha Andrews and strict punishment. There is no question of withdrawing from the elections fearing such threats. I have dedicated my entire life to the fight against corruption and it is definite that I will be contesting this election for the Aam Aadmi Party, which has the same ideology,” Mathai informed