New Delhi, Jan 31 (PTI) EC officials who had gone to search Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's official residence in Delhi were made to wait outside because they were not stern with his security staff, Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu said on Friday.

A high drama unfolded outside Mann's Delhi residence on Thursday as Election Commission (EC) officials tried to conduct a search of the premises following allegation that money was being distributed from the property ahead of the February 5 assembly polls.

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After more than two hours, the EC team, accompanied by Delhi Police personnel, returned empty-handed.

"The EC officials were made to wait outside Kapurthala House for two hours and the media saw that happening," Bittu said.

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"I think the EC team should have sternly dealt with the security officials and gone inside," he added, alleging that the illegal cash was siphoned off in official vehicles from the rear gate during those two hours.

Kapurthala House is the Punjab chief minister's official residence in Delhi.

The BJP leader alleged that builders and industrialists from Punjab called to inform him that the state's AAP government was extorting and threatening them.

"Bhagwant Mann has besmirched the reputation of Sikhs and Punjabis and he is behaving like a puppet of (AAP supremo Arvind) Kejriwal," Bittu said.

Elections to the 70-member Delhi Assembly will be held on February 5 and the votes counted on February 8.

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