The Election Commission on Wednesday, 1 May, cancelled the nomination of Tej Bahadur Yadav, Samajwadi Party’s new Varanasi candidate, a day after it issued notice to him over a discrepancy in his affidavits.
According to the EC, Yadav who was dismissed from service in 2017 after being found guilty of indiscipline, was required to submit a no-objection certificate from the army, giving reasons for his dismissal.
The commission also said in the first set of papers filed as an independent candidate on 24 April, Yadav had mentioned that he was dismissed from the Border Security Force. However, in the second set of papers submitted by him on 29 April – this time as the Samajwadi Party nominee for the Lok Sabha seat – Yadav omitted the information on his dismissal.
The EC, on Wednesday, claimed that both the clarifications from Yadav were not submitted on time, resulting in cancellation of his nomination.
Meanwhile, the former BSF jawan has claimed that all the required documents were filed on time and there’s political pressure on EC’s latest decision.
Although, Yadav has said that he will challenge the order in court, options remain limited before the Varanasi parliamentary polls to be held on 19 May.
What Happens Next
Currently, no case related to Yadav’s nomination is listed in the Supreme Court or the Allahabad High Court. However, moments after the EC’s Wednesday decision, Yadav’s lawyer, Rajesh Gupta said that they will approach the apex court “today.”
In his defence, Yadav had told The Quint that all the documents at the time of filing the nomination were submitted on time and no objections were raised by the commission.
If given a clean-chit from the court, he will face Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress’ Ajai Rai for the Lok Sabha seat. If the nomination is cancelled by the court, the Samajwadi Party may bring back its previous candidate Shalini Yadav to contest the polls.
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