Congress MLA, BJP leader booked for flouting election norms

Bhopal, May 12

Congress MLA from Bhopal Central Arif Masood and former state minister and BJP leader Kamal Patel have been booked for allegedly taking their kin inside polling booths while casting votes on May 7, the police said on Sunday.

The action came after complaints were lodged with the Election Commission. Their pictures showing them inside the polling booths with their kin were on social media , the police said. Such complaints come to the district returning officers, who forward them to the police for action, said an EC official.

While Masood voted in the Bhopal Lok Sabha constituency, Patel cast his ballot in the Betul seat in the third phase of elections on May 7.

The Shahjanabad police have registered a case against Masood under Section 188 (deliberate disobedience of an order) of the IPC, said Assistant Commissioner of Police Nitin Upadhyay. He said the use of mobile phones in a prescribed area of the polling booth was forbidden.