FIR registered against Samajwadi Party's Meerapur candidate for violating Model Code of Conduct

Muzaffarnagar (UP), Nov 13 (PTI) After the police seized a vehicle bearing a flag of the Samajwadi Party, an FIR has been registered against the party's candidate from Meerapur, Sumbul Rana, for violating the Model Code of Conduct.
     A video had also gone viral in which Sumbul’s father-in-law Kadir Rana, who was the BSP MP from Muzaffarnagar from 2009 to 2014, is purportedly seen arguing with the police after the vehicle was seized.
     Additional Superintendent of Police, Rural, Aditya Bansal, said that an FIR has been registered in the Bhopa Police Station under BNS sections 223 (disobedience of order duly promulgated by public servant) and 171 (attempt or interfere with the free exercise of any electoral).
     It was alleged that the vehicle, displaying the large party flag, obstructed traffic in front of Sumbul’s election office.
     Earlier, two cases were registered against former MP Kadir Rana for Model Code of Conduct violation in the ongoing bypoll.
     There are 11 candidates in the fray from the Meerapur assembly seat. The bypoll in Meerapur has been necessitated after its sitting legislator Chandan Chauhan of the RLD got elected to the Lok Sabha from Bijnor.
     The bypolls would be held in nine assembly seats of Uttar Pradesh on November 20. These are Katehari in Ambedkar Nagar, Karhal in Mainpuri, Meerapur in Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad, Majhawan in Mirzapur, Sishamau in Kanpur city, Khair in Aligarh, Phulpur in Prayagraj and Kundarki in Moradabad.
     The Congress is not contesting the bypolls and supporting its INDIA bloc partner Samajwadi Party (SP), while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is contesting all nine seats on its own.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)