Gayatri Prajapati booked for dishonouring Model Code of Conduct

Lucknow: The UP Police on Wednesday lodged an FIR against Cabinet Minister and Samajwadi Party leader Gayatri Prasad Prajapati for dishonouring Model Code of Conduct imposed in Uttar Pradesh ahead of upcoming assembly elections.

Prajapati was booked after as many as 4,452 saris were recovered by the UP police from a vehicle on its way to Amethi and was supposed to be delivered to the former's aide Shailesh Mishra, allegedly for distributing them among the public during elections.

The police said that the freight receipt presented by the truck driver has the name of controversial Uttar Pradesh minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati on it.

The police sources also stated that the car’s driver, Ankit Shukla, had told the police about these saris being loaded from the Laxmi Career Corporation in Kanpur to be delivered to Mishra in Amethi for distribution during the polls.

The FIR has been lodged at Husainganj police station in Fatehpur district of Uttar Pradesh and Prajapati was booked under IPC sections 171-B (giving gratification to any person with the object of inducing him to exercise any electoral right or of rewarding any person for having exercised any such right), 171 F (punishment for undue influence at an election) and 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant).

A senior police official said that the saris were recovered during a routine check under the model code of conduct imposed in the state following announcement of the dates for the upcoming Assembly elections.

Joint Chief Electoral officer JP Singh has asked the police to investigate the matter as per norms.

It may be mentioned that Gayatri Prasad Prajapati was was recently declared as a Samajwadi Party candidate for the upcoming assembly polls by Mylayam Singh Yadav.