Uttar Pradesh elections: ECI puts curbs on Congress Pindra candidate Ajay Rai

VARANASI: The Election Commission of India has prohibited Congress candidate from Pindra assembly constituency, Ajay Rai, from holding any public meeting, public processions, rallies, road shows and interviews, public utterance in media in connection with the ongoing elections for 24 hours from 8 am on February 26.
According to the order issued on Friday, the ECI had also issued a notice to him on February 23 for prima facie violation of model code of conduct with regard to objectionable statements made by him in a video widely circulating on various media platforms.
Rai was asked to furnish his reply within 24 hours of receiving the notice. The ECI received the reply within the stipulated time, in which Rai submitted that a part of the statement is doctored and the words had been changed from what he had said. It has been observed that the message has still not been removed from the Facebook account of Rai. He has also submitted that he had issued a rebuttal to the statement in the media on February 4, in which he had stated that the reference to Modi and Yogi was metaphorically used to describe the salt packets distributed by Modi and Yogi government.
In its order, the ECI said that the Commission is not satisfied with the reply furnished by Rai, and has observed that the statements made by him are utterly irresponsible. An FIR under sections 269, 124(A), 153, 153(A) and 168 of IPC 1860 and 125 of RP Act 1951 has already been lodged against him in Phulpur police station for making the impugned statement.