An FIR has been lodged against Opposition alliance candidate Kunki Chowdhury and her social media head Sandeep Yadav for alleged violations of the model code of conduct, a charge denied by Chowdhury.

The FIR was lodged on a complaint filed under various sections of the BNS and the Representation of People Act (1950, 1951 and 1989) by one Naba Kumar Lahkar just after polling officially ended at 5pm on Thursday.

By midnight, three members of Chowdhury's social media team were detained by the police for questioning but they were released on Friday evening, an associate of Chowdhury said.

Kunki, making her electoral debut from Guwahati Central constituency on the Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) ticket against BJP veteran Vijay Kumar Gupta, has been in the headlines after chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma repeatedly targeted the 27-year-old London-educated politician.

Sarma had been accusing Kunki’s mother, Sujata, of sharing photos of consuming beef on Instagram, challenging Sanatan Dharma and backing "shaitans" Sharjeel Imam and Umar Khalid over their controversial comment on "cutting off the Chicken’s Neck corridor", and claiming Pakistan is not an enemy country, allegations Kunki and her mother dismissed as baseless.

Kunki even lodged a complaint with the Cyber Police Station, Pan Bazar, on April 4 against unidentified individuals/social media handles for circulating manipulated AI-generated videos to harm her and her family’s reputation. In the run-up to the polls on April 9, Sarma continued to flag the beef consumption charge and question why AJP fielded Chowdhury.

The FIR was lodged against her on Thursday evening by Pan Bazar police based on Lahkar’s complaint alleging "certain grave and unlawful activities have been committed" by Choudhary, Sandeep Yadav and other associates, which "directly undermine the sanctity of free and fair elections" during the ongoing election process in Guwahati Central constituency.

An associate of Chowdhury said Yadav, hailing from Haryana, was heading the candidate's social media team and served as an election strategist.

The FIR also alleged: "It has been observed that Shri Sandeep Yadav, a political worker, who was required to leave the constituency at least 48 hours before polling in compliance with election regulations, deliberately remained present and actively participated in election-related activities, thereby violating statutory election restrictions.

"On the day of polling, Smt. Kunki Choudhary herself was physically present inside the polling station, accompanied by approximately five-six individuals, without lawful authority, and was seen interacting with voters in a manner intended to influence their voting decisions, which amounts to undue influence and interference with the electoral process."

Chowdhury released a video asserting that she and her team have not violated any election norms and that FIRs are being lodged without any proof to intimidate and scare them.

Criticising the chief minister, Congress's Assam chief Gaurav Gogoi said that in recent days Sarma has created a toxic environment through “aggressive outbursts” and has “totally panicked” since Congress leader Pawan Khera's press conference on Sunday.

Gogoi pointed out that when Congress candidate Sunil Chettri was attacked in Naduar, the police took no action, even after complaints by Mira Borthakur, the Congress candidate from the Dispur constituency.

However, the same police are now taking action against individuals like Choudhury and Khera, he said, questioning whether the police have arrested a single person involved in cattle syndicates, despite the chief minister's politics around cow protection.

Khera had accused Sarma’s wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, of possessing passports of three countries and the chief minister of concealing information about her properties abroad, allegations which have been rejected by the husband-wife duo as fabricated. Riniki has even lodged a defamation case against Khera.

Gogoi said since Khera’s allegations, Sarma has "literally been tearing his hair out" and he has been "making abusive remarks", "threatening journalists and media house owners".

"I would like to remind everyone that just by shouting facts does not become fiction, just by having power to send police does not mean you can cover up the truth… If the chief minister had been so confident about his stand, he would not have been so desperate," Gogoi said, questioning why Sarma appears to be panicking if he was confident of retaining power.