Tej Bahadur may replace Shalini Yadav as 'Mahagathbandhan' candidate from Varanasi: Sources

Sacked Border Security Force (BSF) constable Tej Bahadur Yadav is likely to replace Shalini Yadav as joint candidate of the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal from Varanasi to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha elections 2019, sources said.

The BSF constable, who was dismissed in 2017 after he posted a video online complaining about the food served to the troops, has already said he will would against Modi in his Varanasi constituency in Uttar Pradesh.  “I will contest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi constituency as an independent candidate,” Tej Bahadur Yadav told reporters in Rewari, Haryana, recently. 

Yadav had uploaded a video on social media in 2017, complaining that poor quality food was being served to the troops in icy, mountainous region along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.

He was later dismissed on the charge of indiscipline.

On April 22, the Samajwadi Party fielded Shalini Yadav from Varanasi parliamentary constituency. Yadav is the daughter-in-law of former Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson Shyam Lal Yadav.

She had unsuccessfully run for the Mayoral poll of Varanasi Municipal Corporation in 2017 from the Congress.

Her father-in-law was a senior Congress leader and had represented Varanasi in the Parliament. Varanasi and Chandauli will go to polls on May 19. The counting of votes will take place on May 23.