FIR filed against Congress star campaigner for alleged violation of moral code of conduct in Kanpur.
After Union ministers Salman Khurshid and Beni Prasad Verma, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi has got into the path of collision with the Election Commission.
Kanpur district election officer and district magistrate Hari Om has said that Rahul’s road show in Kanpur on Monday violated the model code of conduct as it breached the time limit and the roadmap set by the district administration.
Hari Om said an FIR has been filed against Rahul and city
Congress chief Mahesh Dikshit who have been booked under Section 188 of IPC for violating prohibitory orders (Section 144) imposed in the city and under Sections 283 (danger or obstruction in public way) and 290 (public nuisance).
“The district administration had allocated time till noon and fixed a 20-km route for Rahul’s road show but he violated it and stretched it beyond permitted time,” the DM said.
However, the Congress said there had been no violation of the EC’s model code of conduct. The party also blamed the Kanpur district administration of acting under pressure from the Mayawati regime.
Rahul was also shown black flags during the road show. The protesters were reported to be members of the Ulema Council agitated over the Batla House encounter case.
“We had allotted a separate route for Rahul’s road show considering that he would have faced traffic. There could also have been problem with his security and his road show may have clashed with the Shiv Barat (Shivratri rally),” Hari Om said.
The organisers had submitted a 35-km route covering all seven assembly segments in Kanpur while the district administration suggested an alternative route which was only 20 km and covered four segments. Congressmen refused to adhere to the amended route, saying they had already made arrangements according to the original plan, and that they had been informed of the change at the 11th hour.
“We had submitted the route for the road show much in advance, and the Kanpur district officials kept mum for two days before informing us of the change on the night of February 19. It was too late for us to make alternative arrangements as the local organisers had already informed people of the road show according to our original route,” UP Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi said in a statement issued here. “The Kanpur district administration tried to disrupt our programme under pressure from the state government,” she alleged.
“The Mayawati regime is so scared of Rahul’s popularity which was visible in the Lucknow road show (taken out some days ago) that they are misusing official machinery to disrupt his programmes,” said Union minister and Kanpur MP Sri Prakash Jaiswal.
Towards the end of the road show, Ulema Council protesters showed black flags to Rahul in Babupurwa. Some of them even threw the black flags at Rahul’s bus. The protesters later said the Congress was clearly fooling Muslims. “Rahul and AICC general secretary (Digvijay Singh) keep saying the Batla House encounter was fake but at the same time, the youngsters arrested in this case continue to languish in jail,” one of them said.
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