Lucknow: Police on Sunday registered a case against the Samajwadi Party's Lok Sabha candidate from Azamgarh, Dharmendra Yadav, and his 42 supporters for alleged violation of the model code of conduct.

Dharmendra, who is SP chief Akhilesh Yadav's cousin, had allegedly taken out a motorcade in Mehnagar with more vehicles than permitted by the Election Commission.

“There was a limit of 10 vehicles in such processions but the SP candidate had over 40 SUVs. We have registered a case against all of them on the basis of a complaint and forwarded the details to the Election Commission,” said Sanjay Singh, in charge of Mehnagar police station.

Dharmendra said: “What should I do if the police count the cars of other people in my procession? The government cannot intimidate me with such tricks. We are law-abiding people and don’t violate the code.”

Locals believe that Dharmendra’s poll prospects are high this time. He had lost against the BJP's Dinesh Lal Nirahua, a Bhojpuri singer-actor, by only 8,000 votes in the 2022 by-election. Nirahua is again in the fray.

“All the development work, including the construction of an airport and a medical college, was started by the Akhilesh Yadav government between 2012 and 2017. The BJP government took credit for it. They also created false rumours about Azamgarh and linked it with terrorism in the country. Such things have tarnished the image of the district. The BJP's candidate is known for focusing more on films than on the welfare of the people. We will defeat the BJP here easily,” said Guddu Jamali, SP’s Legislative Council member and a resident of Azamgarh.

However, Nirahua said family politics was breathing its last in the country. "The SP didn’t do anything for Azamgarh except taking votes from here,” he said.

Akhilesh had won from Azamgarh in 2019 against Narahua by a margin of 2.60 lakh votes but resigned to join the Legislative Assembly and focus on state politics.