Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh.
Credit: PTI Photo
Bhopal: Congress' Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh and two other leaders of the party were booked for allegedly sharing an old video of BJP's candidate for the bypoll to Vijaypur assembly constituency to mislead voters, police said on Saturday.
Besides Singh, the FIR also names the opposition leader Umang Singhar and the deputy leader of the opposition in the assembly Hemant Katare. They were booked on a complaint lodged by BJP general secretary Arvind Singh Jadon.
Singh, Singhar, and Katare shared a six-year-old video of BJP candidate Ramniwas Rawat on their social media accounts to tarnish his image, the FIR stated.
The video purportedly shows Rawat, who was Congress MLA six years ago, was shouted at by some villagers over a water crisis. Rawat, accompanied by his security officer, can be heard saying if villagers do not want to vote for him, they shouldn't.
Jadon claimed the release of the video amounted to a violation of the model code of conduct.
A video can be uploaded on social media only after securing permission of the Media Certification & Monitoring Committee (MCMC) set up by the Election Commission, the FIR stated.
Jadon alleged the video was posted to mislead voters.
Police booked the three leaders of Congress under Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) section 223 (disobedience to orders promulgated by public servants).
The bypolls to Budhni in Sehore district and Vijaypur in Sheopur district will be conducted on November 13 and votes will be counted on November 23.
The election for the Vijaypur assembly segment was necessitated after former Congress MLA Rawat joined the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.