amajwadi Party candidate from Ballia Lok Sabha constituency, Sanatan Pandey, has been booked by police for allegedly spreading enmity, hatred and animosity among sections of society and also threatening the district election officer. Superintendent of Police Dev Ranjan Verma said on Sunday that on the complaint filed by Sub-Inspector Makhan Singh in Ballia city, an FIR had been lodged against Pandey under sections 171 F (exercising undue influence in elections), 189 (threatening a public servant), 186 (obstructing a public servant in public work), 505 (2) (spreading hatred and animosity between different groups) of the of the Indian Penal Code and sections 125 and 136 of the Representation of Peoples Act, 1950. He said Pandey had tried to spread enmity, hatred and hostility in society while commenting on the tenure and works of the present government on April 27 and had also threatened the district election officer. In a clip of Pandeys statement that has been widely circulated on social media, during an interaction with reporters on Saturday, he can be heard saying that he had been winning the election last time but the administration cost him his victory. I accepted my defeat last time because I did not want to challenge the Election Commission, he told the reporters. "During the last elections, I was attacked outside the counting centre and my vehicle was damaged by people on the side of the government, he alleged. Pandey also said that he would not allow anything similar to happen this time. I have taken an oath this time. If the people of Ballia want to defeat me, I will accept it. But if the people of Ballia want to make me the victor, then the local administration or the BJP will not be able to stop me from getting my winning certificate, he further said. If they do so, either my body or the collectors body will come out...," Pandey said. Pandey lost the Lok Sabha election in 2019 as an SP candidate to Bharatiya Janata Partys Virendra Singh Mast by a margin of 16,000 votes. This time, he is pitted against former Ballia MP Neeraj Shekhar of the BJP. Ballia will go to the polls in the last phase on June 1.

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