Patna, October 28: Bihar Agriculture Minister and senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Prem Kumar on Wednesday arrived to cast his vote at a polling booth on Road No. 120 in Swarajpuri, Gaya. In what seemed like a clear violating of the model code of conduct, Prem Kumar was wearing a mask with BJP symbol printed on it. An FIR will be registered against Kumar by the Returning Officer in connection with his act. Bihar Assembly Elections 2020 Phase 1 Voting Live News Updates.
Kumar, BJP candidate from Gaya, exercised his franchise wearing a lotus-printed mask. He did not remove it even while casting his vote. He has been elected six times from the Gaya seat. Speaking to news agency IANS, he said his action was unintentional. "It was not my intention to generate controversy and nobody pointed it out to me either. Since I was really busy, I didn't take off the mask when I went to vote," he said. Bihar Assembly Elections 2020: 5 Key Takeaways From IANS-C Voter Opinion Poll Results.
Bihar Minister Prem Kumar to be Booked For Violating Model Code of Conduct:
Returning Officer to file an FIR against Bihar Minister and BJP leader Prem Kumar for violation of the model code of conduct by wearing a mask with his party's symbol at polling booth. https://t.co/Avxy37SJic
— ANI (@ANI) October 28, 2020
Bihar Chief Electoral Officer H R Srinivas assured that action will be taken if anyone violates the model code of conduct. In Bihar, polling is being held at 71 seats in 16 districts in the first phase while two more phases are scheduled for November 3 and November 7. Counting of votes will be held on November 10.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 28, 2020 02:10 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).