SP's Varanasi candidate Tej Bahadur gets EC notice, ex-BSF jawan alleges conspiracy

The Election Commission on Tuesday served notice to Samajwadi Party’s Varanasi candidate Tej Bahadur Yadav and asked him to get a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the Border Security Force. The poll panel asked him to file his response by 11 am on May 1.

In its letter, the poll panel said that employees of the state or central government who have been dismissed for “corruption or disloyalty to the state” shall be disqualified from campaigning for a period of five years.

Yadav, a former BSF constable, was dismissed from the service in 2017 after uploaded a video on social media complaining that poor quality food was being served to the troops in the icy, mountainous region along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. He was later dismissed on the charge of indiscipline.

When Yadav filed his nomination, he had admitted that he was dismissed. However, when he filed his nominations papers again, he omitted it, causing a discrepancy.

Alleging conspiracy behind the EC notice, Yadav said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanth want him to cancel his nomination.

He claimed that the Election Commission has served him with notice despite finding nothing wrong in his nomination paper.  

The SP, which is in an alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal, had earlier declared Shalini Yadav as its candidate from Varanasi, while the Congress has renominated Ajai Rai.

"I was sacked for raising the issue of corruption. My sole objective will be to strengthen and eliminate corruption in the forces," Yadav told reporters when asked about the SP decision to field him.

Varanasi will go to polls in the seventh phase of the Lok Sabha election on May 19 and the last date for filing nomination is Monday.