Allu Arjun booked for poll code violation after visiting Andhra MLA
Lok Sabha elections 2024: Telugu actor Allu Arjun was booked by Andhra Pradesh police after his visit to the YSRCP Nandyal candidate’s residence caused a large crowd to gather. The Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party candidate and sitting MLA Shilpa Ravichandra Kishore Reddy has also been named in the FIR. On Saturday, the actor waved to the large crowd as they chanted "Pushpa" for over an hour.
Pushpa is the name of Arjun's superhit movie, and its sequel will hit theatres soon. This triggered an allegation of theelection code violation. The complaint against Arjun was lodged by the Special Deputy Tehsildar of Nandyal, saying he had no permission from the constituency’s Returning Officer to conduct any election programme.
The complaint also mentioned that gathering such a large crowd posed a public safety issue, causing a law and order situation. Allu Arjun has been booked under section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code. Arjun was also blamed for breaching election protocols and found to violate Code of Criminal Procedure Section 144 (assembly of more than 4 people) and Section 31 of the Andhra Pradesh Police Act.
Arjun had also campaigned for the Nandyal MLA during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Elections to the 175-member Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh are scheduled to be held on the same day on May 13. Last week, the Election Commission of India (ECI) ordered the transfer of state police chief K V Rajendranath, news agency PTI reported.
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