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Madhusudan Mistry, Congress candidate from Vadodara seat contesting against BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, was on Thursday arrested along with 20 other party members in Vadodara on the charges of rioting, damaging public property and breaching prohibitory orders.
Mistry had been demanding that he should be given equal space to put up his election poster and hoarding. The BJP had booked all the public hoarding space in Vadodara and put up posters of Modi.
Today, Mistry ripping down posters of the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate and tried to replace Modi’s advertisements with his own, with help from supporters.
In Vadodara BJP has put over a number of hoardings of Modi across the city. The party had booked all major advertisement kiosks and billboards in Vadodara more than a fortnight ago. When Mistry demanded an equal share in the space allocated for putting up election-related posters the municipal corporation refused.
Confirming the arrest, Vadodara Commissioner of Police Satish Sharma said “Congress candidate from Vadodara Lok Sabha constituency Madhusudhan Mistry and twenty other party workers have been arrested for alleged rioting, breaching prohibitory orders and causing damage to public property.”
“They have been booked under Section 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 427 (mischief causing damage) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 3 (1) of Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act,” Sharma said, adding that all of them would be produced before magistrate.
Reacting to the development Congress president Arjun Modhwadia said that Election Commission of India (ECI) had directed for equal opportunity to all candidate for posters and hoardings, but the BJP has bought all the hoarding space.
“We request the EC to effectively control such efforts by BJP,” he said. Sources said, Congress leaders were upset by the act of Mistry.
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