Lok Sabha Elections 2024: SP candidate from Uttar Pradesh's Ballia booked for spreading hatred

Sanatan Pandey, while commenting on the tenure and works of the present government on April 27, was accused of spreading enmity, hatred and animosity among different sections of the society and threatening the District Election Officer, officials said.

Ballia, Uttar Pradesh: Police have booked Sanatan Pandey, the Samajwadi Party's (SP) candidate from the Ballia Lok Sabha constituency, for allegedly spreading enmity and threatening the district election officer, officials said on Sunday.

District officials said an FIR was lodged against Pandey over his statement to reporters on Saturday.

During the interaction, Pandey can be heard saying that he had been winning the election last time, but the administration cost him his victory.

"I accepted my defeat last time because I didn't want to challenge the Election Commission," he told the reporters.

"During the last elections, I was attacked outside the counting centre and my vehicle was damaged by people on the side of the government," he alleged.

Pandey also said that he would not allow anything similar to happen this time.

"I have taken an oath this time. If the people of Ballia want to defeat me, I will accept it. But if the people of Ballia want to make me the victor, then the local administration or the BJP will not be able to stop me from getting my winning certificate," he further said.

"If they do so, either my body or the collector's body will come out...," Pandey said.

A clip of the statement has become widely circulated on social media.

Superintendent of Police Dev Ranjan Verma said an FIR has been lodged against Pandey under Sections 171 F (exercising undue influence in elections), 189 (threatening a public servant), 186 (obstructing a public servant in public work), 505 (2) (spreading hatred and animosity between different groups) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and provisions of the Representation of the People Act on the basis of a complaint filed by Sub Inspector Makhan Singh in Ballia city.

He said Pandey, while commenting on the tenure and works of the current dispensation on Saturday, was accused of spreading enmity, hatred and animosity among different sections of society and threatening the district election officer.

Pandey contested the Lok Sabha elections on a Samajwadi Party ticket in 2019, losing to the BJP's Virendra Singh Mast by 16,000 votes.

This time, he is pitted against former Ballia MP Neeraj Shekhar of the BJP.

Ballia will go to the polls in the last phase on June 1.