Celebrations for a mass wedding in Agra turned gloomy on Sunday when 23 grooms were forced to alight from their horses by the police as they were in breach of the electoral model code of conduct.

As one of the organisers of the mass wedding was a contestant in the panchayat elections, the wedding celebrations at Kagarole block, Agra were found to be contravening the model code of conduct.

The police swooped on the marriage party and asked them to finish the ceremony quickly due to which the marriages could not be solemnized properly.

Fearing police action, the garlanding ritual was given a miss and the entire ceremony was conducted hastily, causing much consternation among the brides and grooms.

A BJP MP from Fatehpur Sikiri, Chaudhary Babulal, who was passing through the venue also reportedly failed to stop the police action.