In a major embarrassment for the Congress, its candidate for the Banihal Assembly seat and former JKPCC chief, Vikar Rasool Wani and five others have been convicted by a UP court, which sentenced him to five months imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1000 for violation of the election model code of conduct.
The Banihal constituency in the Ramban district of Jammu will go to polls on 18 September and Wani’s conviction in the middle of the campaign has come as a setback for the Congress.
However, Wani said on Friday that the sessions court has granted bail to him and he was taking steps to seek transfer of the case to Jammu and Kashmir.
He said the case relates to the period when he was general secretary of the Youth Congress 12 years ago. The case pertains to 2012 elections when he went to a UP village to campaign for a party candidate whose rally was held in a school. No summons were sent since 2012 and after 12 years in 2024, the summons were served for the first time and the conviction ordered after about three hearings, he said.
The Banihal Assembly constituency is among the five seats on which the Congress and National Conference have failed to reach an understanding and both parties have fielded their candidates for a “friendly contest”.
Scrutiny of nomination papers of candidates for the seats going to polls in the first phase on 18 September has already been done.
The case pertains to the 2012 Assembly elections in UP when Wani addressed a rally in a government school in the Mithepur village. A case was registered against Wani and others by the then Block Development Officer, Siyaram Varshney for violating the Model Code of Conduct.