Lucknow: On Friday, thousands of Samajwadi Party workers gathered in front of their office in Lucknow on the occasion of rebel BJP ministers, including SP Maurya joining the SP, flouting both COVID protocols as well as restrictions imposed by the Election Commission.
As per information, a crowd of more than a thousand workers and supporters swarmed inside office premises as soon the gates were opened.
The Election Commission's instructions restricted public meetings, rallies, cycle rallies, bike rallies, roadshows or any other gathering with a large group of people present till January 15.
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It had further advised both political parties and candidates to conduct campaigns in the digital mode, as much as possible in order to avoid overcrowding.
While COVID-violators would be punished under various sections of Epidemic Act, NDMA and IPC, non-compliance with EC-imposed restrictions will lead to punishments under various provisions of Section 51 to 60 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 besides invoking Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
The rebel MLAs who shifted base to SP on Friday included Swami Prasad Maurya, Dharam Singh Saini, MLA Bhagwati Sagar, Vinay Shakya, Roshan Lal Verma, Dr. Mukesh Verma, Brijesh Prajapati, Chaudhary Amar Singh, former minister Ramhet Bharti, former MLA Neeraj Maurya, former MLC Harpal Saini etc
