Kanpur, Jan 30 (PTI) An FIR has been lodged against BJP MLA Mahesh Trivedi, who is contesting the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls from the Kidwai Nagar constituency in Kanpur, for his alleged provocative speech, violating the Model Code of Conduct and flouting COVID-19 norms during poll campaigning, police said on Sunday.

Trivedi was elected from Kidwai Nagar in 2017 and has been re-nominated from the seat by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

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Kanpur will vote in the third round of the seven-phase polls on February 20.

The case was lodged after a video clip, in which Trivedi was purportedly seen inciting his supporters to take law in their hands, went viral on social media platforms, police said.

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Additional Commissioner of Police (law and order) Anand Prakash Tiwari said the BJP MLA was booked under provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Epidemic Diseases Act.

The FIR was lodged at the Naubasta police station following a complaint from Flying Squad Team (FST) head Sudhanshu Tripathi, he added.

A probe has been launched and instructions have been issued to look into the matter properly and take action accordingly, the ACP said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)