Digvijaya Singh, MP Congress chief Patwari booked for poll code violation before Vijaypur bypoll

Sheopur (MP): Madhya Pradesh police on Sunday booked Congress MP Digvijaya Singh, state unit chief Jitu Patwari and the party's nominee for Vijaypur assembly seat bypoll for alleged violation of model code.

According to the police, the Congress leaders, including the party candidate Mukesh Malhotra, organised a public meeting on the Morena-Shivpuri highway instead of the Mandi campus for which they were granted permission.

These leaders were booked under sections 126 (2) (wrongful restraint as the voluntary obstruction of a person), 223 (disobedience to orders promulgated by public servants) and 285 (obstruction in a public way or line of navigation) of Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) on a complaint lodged by Flying Surveillance Team (FST) in-charge Dinesh Kumar Chanderia.

The FIR also names Bhander MLA Phool Singh Baraiya, deputy leader of opposition in state assembly Hemant Katare, and local leader Harikishan Kushwaha.

A day earlier, Digvijaya Singh, opposition leader Umang Singhar and the deputy leader of the opposition in the assembly Hemant Katare were booked for allegedly sharing an old video of BJP candidate Ramniwas Rawat to mislead voters.

The byelection for the Vijaypur assembly segment was necessitated after former Congress MLA Rawat joined the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

The bypolls to Budhni in Sehore district and Vijaypur in Sheopur district will be conducted on November 13 and votes will be counted on November 23.