UP Polls: EC asks police to book BSP, SP’s Noida candidates

The Gautam Budh Nagar district administration and the Election Commission on Saturday directed Noida’s Sector 20 police to lodge an FIR against the Noida candidates of Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance for seeking votes on the polling day.

SP-Congress alliance candidate from Noida, Sunil Chaudhary, and BSP candidate, Ravikant Mishra, allegedly sent bulk messages to voters and also went live on Facebook, seeking votes, on the morning of February 11.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other parties filed a complaint against the two candidates.

“I have written to the Sector 20 police station officer to immediately lodge an FIR against the two candidates because they cannot seek votes on the polling day, through any medium. The two posted videos on Facebook and also sent messages in bulk, seeking votes,” Amit Kumar, sub-divisional magistrate and returning officer for Noida, said.

Candidates Sunil Chaudhary and Ravikant Mishra, however, feigned ignorance. “The video on my Facebook page is an old one and may have been posted by a party worker. I don’t know who sent messages in bulk. I am not aware of Election Commission orders against me. I heard that SP candidate Sunil Chaudhary also sought votes, so action should be taken against him too,” Ravikant Mishra, who is contesting the elections for the first time, said.

“I don’t know who posted the video on my Facebook page nor who sent bulk messages. I will look into the issue and reply to the Election Commission,” SP candidate Sunil Chaudhary said.

Chaudhary had lost the assembly poll in 2012 to BJP’S Dr Mahesh Sharma. Chaudhary is fighting from Noida for the second time.

Police is directed to file FIR under Section 188 of Indian penal code, officials said. “Both have disobeyed the commission orders by seeking votes when it is banned. Now, the Election Commission will punish both,” Kumar said.

Noida is among 73 assembly constituencies that are going to polls on February 11, in the first phase of elections in Uttar Pradesh. Winning the Noida seat has been made an absolute priority by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that is fielding Pankaj Singh, son of home minister Rajnath, from the constituency.