Complaint filed against AAP West Delhi candidate Balbir Singh Jakhar

A complaint was filed against Aam Aadmi Party's West Delhi candidate Balbir Singh Jakhar for allegedly conducting meeting inside religious places in Madipur which is an offence, officials said Tuesday.

On April 26, Jakhar, accompanied by his brother Vishal Singh Jakhar and Girish Soni, AAP MLA from Madipur, took out a padyatra.

They had sought permission for the padyatra, which was supposed to start from Vishnu Mandir, Madipur, and end at Madipur village and was supposed to cover Ravidas Mandir, Madipur Colony, and some residential blocks under the jurisdiction of Punjabi Bagh police station.

However, the trio conducted meetings inside Vishnu Mandir, Ravidas Mandir, Kabristan Wali Masjid in Paschim Puri and F-Block Masjid in Madipur, the complaint said.

Balbir Singh Jakhar allegedly conducted a meeting inside Sonkar Samaj Mandir.

The complaint said, as per guidelines of the Election Commission, use of temple, mosque and other religious places as forum for election propaganda is a "corrupt practice and electoral offence" and the trio has violated the model code of conduct.

A kalandra (a formal complaint lodged in case of a non-cognisable offence) was made on April 28 after police were informed by the returning officer of west Delhi constituency.

Balbir Singh Jakhar, however, said he does not know about any complaint being filed against him and denied holding any such meeting inside a religious place.

An advocate, he is making his electoral debut from the West Delhi Lok Sabha constituency on an AAP ticket and is pitted against incumbent BJP MP Parvesh Singh Verma and Congress's Mahabal Mishra.