Day before polls, Punjab election officer orders police case against Arvind Kejriwal

File image of AAP Chief Arvind Kejriwal (Source: PTI)

A police case has been ordered against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal over a controversial video of him targeting the political rivals in Punjab, reports said on February 19, a day before the high-stake assembly elections in the state.

The video violates the Model Code of Conduct, the Chief Electoral Officer reportedly said, while acting on a complaint moved by Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) vice president Arshdeep Singh.

"It is submitted that Model Code of Conduct has been enforced in the state of Punjab. In the light of MCC no party can put any objectionable videos targeting particular leader of any prevalent handles on internet," NDTV quoted the state's top election officer as saying.

The SAD leader who filed the complaint claimed that the video is aimed at "maligning the image of Shiromani Akali Dal and other political parties" before the public, the news channel further reported.

Also Read: Punjab Elections | A multi-cornered contest makes it a cliff-hanger

Notably, all 117 seats of Punjab will be contested in a single phase on February 20. The state witnesses a four-cornered contest among the ruling Congress, prime opposition AAP, the alliance of SAD and BSP, and the recently formed coalition of the BJP and former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh's Punjab Lok Congress (PLC). The results will be declared on March 10.

In the final phase of electioneering, the war of words has escalated between Kejriwal - who has been leading the AAP campaign - and Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, who is heading the incumbent Congress government. The latter has called Kejriwal, his rival and Delhi counterpart, a "fraud", after being referred to as "dishonest" by the AAP supremo.

In the 2017 assembly elections, the Congress, then led by Amarinder Singh, had won a brute majority of 77 out of the 117 seats contested. The AAP had emerged as the primary opposition group winning 20 constituencies.