The Madhya Pradesh Police on Friday booked a Bharatiya Janata Party MLA for campaigning for the Assembly bye-poll at Mungaoli scheduled for Saturday, allegedly violating the model code of conduct, PTI reported.

Bye-elections are scheduled in Madhya Pradesh’s Mungaoli and Kolaras constituencies on February 24, and according to the model code of conduct, no party is allowed to canvass for votes in the 48 hours before polling closes. The BJP MLA, Shailendra Jain, was allegedly campaigning in the Mungaoli area in his sports utility vehicle on Friday, according to the police.

“Jain and his driver Rakeeb Khan were booked under the Indian Penal Code, Mungaoli Police Station Inspector Kushlal Singh Badhoria told PTI.

Badhoria said the police stopped the MLA from campaigning as soon as they heard about it. “We asked him and his driver to leave, but they went to another area close by and started campaigning there,” Badhoria said.

The bye-polls were necessitated following the deaths of Congress MLAs Mahendra Singh Kalukheda from Mungaoli, and and Ram Singh Yadav of Kolaras.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has campaigned heavily for the BJP in the past few weeks, while Jyotiraditya Scindia has done so for the Congress.

The polls are significant for both parties as they come months before the Assembly elections. The bye-polls will help both parties gauge the mood of the voters in the state.

Earlier this month, the Congress claimed the BJP had violated the code of conduct by organising a competition and announcing a scheme to give agricultural loans to defaulting farmers in one of the constituencies going to the polls, IANS reported.