EC books Punjab CM, singer Sidhu Moosewala for violating poll code
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Manasa: The Election Commissioner (EC) on Saturday registered a case against Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and singer Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu for violating the model code of conduct and for campaigning beyond the stipulated time.
Dr Vijay Singla, the AAP's candidate from Mansa, had gone live on Facebook on Friday evening to show Channi and Moosewala campaigning in the area till 6.30 pm as against the deadline of 6 pm.
Mr Channi had visited a temple with Mr Moosewala in Manasa. The two Congress leaders then carried out a door-to-door campaign in the area yesterday evening, after the campaigning had come to an end.
On the complaint of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), a case has been filed under section 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for violating the model code of conduct against Channi and Sidhu.
Harjinder Singh, Sub-Divisional Magistrate and returning officer, Mansa, told ANI, "As soon as I got the information that the CM is still campaigning in Mansa, I reached the spot. But CM had already left by then. I enquired with the locals if any campaigning was done by him but they said that the CM had gone to the Gurudwara and a temple to offer prayers."
Voting for the 117-member Punjab legislative assembly is set to be held on Sunday. Counting of votes will take place on March 10.
The Election Commission had earlier postponed the date of voting for the Assembly polls from February 14 to February 20 in the wake of Guru Ravidas Jayanti.
Congress has fielded Sidhu Moosewala from Manasa. He is already an established name as a Punjabi singer with his chart-bursting numbers, and now hopes to make his presence felt in the constituency.
When he joined the party in December, Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu had touted him as a youth icon.
Mr Moosewala, 27 hails from Moosa village in Mansa district and his mother is a village head and father an ex-serviceman.
His popularity among the youth can be gauged from the fact that he has 6.9 million followers on Instagram and nearly one crore subscribers on his YouTube channel.
