The Election Commission on Wednesday rejected the nomination paper of dismissed BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav as SP candidate from Varanasi. "My nomination has been rejected wrongly. I was asked to produce the evidence at 6:15pm yesterday (Tuesday). We produced the evidence, still my nomination was rejected. We will go to the Supreme Court," Tej Bahadur said. "We had submitted the evidence that was asked from us. Still, the nomination was declared invalid. We will go to the Supreme Court," said Tej Bahadur Yadav's lawyer Rajesh Gupta.
The was uncertainty over Yadav's fighting the polls from Varanasi as the district election officer has served him notices pointing "discrepancies" in the two nominations filed by him. "I had filed my first nomination as an Independent candidate on April 24 and on SP party symbol on April 29. If there were any issues with the nominations, why wasn't I informed earlier? Despite lack of time, our legal team is furnishing all details to the RO (returning officer)," he said.
However, the district magistrate refuted the allegations. "A person who has been dismissed from service from state or central government in the last 5 years has to obtain a certificate from the EC stating he/she has not been dismissed due to disloyalty or corruption. The certificate wasn't produced before 11am, so, the nomination was rejected."
However, Tej Bahadur alleged that the BJP was targeting him for standing against PM Modi.
Earlier in the day, he had alleged that the BJP was creating "roadblocks" in his nomination process to "prevent" him from contesting elections against Modi from Varanasi.
There was no immediate response from the BJP on the allegation levelled by Yadav, who was dismissed from the BSF after he complained about poor quality food being served to soldiers in a video, which went viral. The 43-year-old SP nominee, who is currently awaiting his fate in this elections, was surrounded by his supporters at the District Collectorate.
"I am being stopped from fighting elections as the 'nakli chowkidar (fake watchman)' of the country is afraid of the 'asli (real) chowkidar'," he alleged. Modi refers to himself as the 'chowkidar' (watchman) of the nation.
Uttar Pradesh SP spokesperson Manoj Rai Dhupchandi alleged that Yadav was being "targeted" as he represented the aspirations and angst of farmers and jawans, and claimed the BJP got "afraid" of him as he is getting support from the people in Varanasi.
"Our supporters are also present outside the EC office in Delhi. We will continue to fight for justice," he said.
(With PTI inputs)
