AAP's Somnath Bharti Booked in Amethi

Lucknow: Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former Delhi minister Somnath Bharti has been booked by the Amethi district administration for overstaying in the constituency, which goes to polls tomorrow.

Mr Bharti was among the scores of AAP leaders who had landed in Amethi to mobilise popular opinion in favour of Kumar Vishwas, their party's candidate from the high-profile constituency. He is challenging Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, the two-term MP from Amethi, and popular TV actor-turned-politician Smriti Irani, who has been fielded by the BJP. (India Votes 2014: Full Coverage)

Mr Bharti has, according to sources in Amethi district administration, been accused of violating Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Representation of People's Act for staying on in Amethi even after the deadline for campaigning had come to an end at 6 pm yesterday. He, along with other AAP supporters, including members of Mr Vishwas' family, had been asked to leave the constituency by 11 pm last night on the ground that they were not registered voters.

Mr Bharti refused to comply with the orders of the district authorities, forcing them to act against him. (India Votes 2014: Schedule | Candidates)

The 39-year-old former Delhi law minister had triggered a huge controversy in January after he led a mob in a south Delhi neighbourhood which allegedly harassed and illegally detained a group of African women on suspicion they were part of a prostitution and drugs racket.

He was attacked last month in Varanasi after he left the venue of a TV show that featured him. The windows of his car were smashed and its driver was allegedly assaulted. The AAP later blamed local BJP activists for assaulting him.