MP Polls: BJP candidate carries coins in metal pot, case registered

A case has been registered against Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) candidate Narayan Tripathi on Tuesday for alleged violation of the Model Code of Conduct in the poll-bound state of Madhya Pradesh.

Tripathi had gone to file his nomination carrying a fee of Rs 10,000 in the form of Re 1 coins in a metal pot covered with a piece of red cloth, which, he claimed ,to have collected from the public as their blessings.

The metal pot in which Tripathi was carrying the coins looked similar to an urn used to carry the funeral ash, which allegedly has a religious implication.

Satna Returning Officer and Sub-Divisional Magistrate Maihar HK Dhurve considered the gesture as a violation of the Model Code of Conduct and registered a case against Tripathi under Section 125 A of the Representation of the People Act.

However, Tripathi said that an issue is being unnecessarily blown out of proportion by the Congress. "Congress is creating an issue out of this. I have not flouted any code of conduct," he claimed.

Tripathi carried his nomination fee in a total of 12 metal pots.