Cong candidate imprisoned, fined for violating Model Code

, Mar 27: The

nominee for Allahabad Lok Sabha seat Nand Gopal Gupta 'Nandi' was imprisoned for a short duration and fined for violating Model Code of Conduct in local body elections in 2012.

Nandi, known for his publicity blitz since the days when he was with the BSP leader and a minister in the previous Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh, is also named in an FIR filed earlier this week for leading a procession after his name was announced as a Congress candidate from here.

He took out a vehicular procession without permission during the 2012 polls

Nandi and his wife Abhilasha, the city Mayor, were yesterday slapped with a fine of Rs 1,000 each and sentenced to "imprisonment till the rising of the court" by Judicial Magistrate Gyanendra Tripathi for having taken out a vehicular procession without permission during the local body elections in 2012. The couple, who were expelled from the BSP earlier this month, had pleaded guilty before the court.

Besides, an FIR has been lodged against Nandi for violating the Model Code when he came to the city at the head of a procession on March 25. A prominent city-based businessman, Nandi has been carrying on an intensive publicity drive over the radio and TV channels for a long time, much before the general elections were announced.

Meanwhile, both Nandi and former Test cricketer Mohd Kaif, who has been fielded from the adjoining Phulpur constituency, formally joined Congress at a function organised by the party's district unit yesterday.

PTI