LUCKNOW: The Election Commission has sought a report from district election officers across Uttar Pradesh over a complaint filed alleging violation of the Model Code of Conduct by the Samajwadi Party which launched a door-to-door campaign regarding free electricity.
Lawyer Yogesh Somvanshi of Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had submitted a complaint to the EC in this regard on January 20.
Confirming the action, a senior election officer said that the EC had sought a report from all 75 District Election Officers and added that it was a routine process followed when a written complaint was submitted.
Somvanshi claimed that ahead of the UP polls, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav not only made the verbal promise of making 300 units of electricity free if voted to power but he also proceeded to direct his workers to approach voters door- to- door and get the “Samajwadi Form” filled up for availing the sop in future.
The petitioner had also stated that no political party should be allowed to gratify voters to influence them for voting for a political party. It is a violation of MCC, he said.
The complainant had claimed that the SP drive was a corrupt practice as defined under Section 123 of the Representation of People’s Act.
On January 1, Akhilesh had promised to provide 300 units of free electricity to households and completely free power to farmers for irrigation if elected to office.
“It will be the number one promise on the Samajwadi Party manifesto,” he had told the media ahead of the launch of the form filling campaign on January 18. Later, the SP workers had shared pictures and videos on social media showing people registering for free power.
Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party on Tuesday declared Pawan Pandey as its candidate from the Ayodhya assembly constituency for the upcoming elections in the state.
Tej Narayan Pandey alias Pawan Pandey was a minister in the council of ministers headed by Akhilesh Yadav in the SP government from 2012 to 2017, and had won from Ayodhya assembly constituency.
However, in the 2017 assembly elections, he had lost to BJP's Vedprakash Gupta from the same seat.
The SP has also given a ticket to Madhuri Verma, who had crossed over from the BJP, and she will be contesting from Nanpara in Bahraich.
Former UP minister Yasar Shah has been named as the SP candidate from Bahraich, while former legislator Mukesh Srivastava will be party's candidate from Payagpur assembly constituency in Bahraich.
Yasar Shah is currently an SP MLA from Matera assembly constituency in Bahraich.
The party has also named Gulshan Yadav as its candidate from Kunda assembly constituency in Pratapgarh district.
Kunda is the stronghold of 6-time independent MLA Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya.
In 2017 and 2012, the SP had not fielded any candidate from Kunda.
The party has repeated its sitting MLA Ujjwal Raman Singh, son of party stalwart Revti Raman Singh),from Karchhana in Prayagraj district, while Hakim Chand Bind, who had crossed over from the BSP, has been made the party candidate from Handia in Prayagraj.
Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases between February 10 and March 7 and the results will be announced on March 10.
(With PTI Inputs)