Election Commission Rejects Ex-BSF Jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav's Nomination From Varanasi

The nomination filed by former BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav to contest elections from Varanasi constituency has been rejected by the Election Commission of India.

Yadav, who was dismissed from service in 2017 for allegedly making false complaints about food quality, had filed his papers on Monday as a candidate of the Samajwadi Party.

The ECI had yesterday served notice on him asking clarifications about his nomination papers. As per the poll officials, permission from government needs to be taken for contesting elections in case of officials who have been dismissed from service for "corruption or disloyalty to the state".

"A person who has been dismissed from service from state or central govt within last 5 yrs has to obtain a certificate from EC stating he/she hasn't been dismissed due to disloyalty or corruption.Certificate wasn't produced before 11am, so, the nomination was rejected," Varanasi district magistrate said.

DM Varanasi:A person who has been dismissed from service from state or central govt within last 5 yrs has to obtain a certificate from EC stating he/she hasn't been dismissed due to disloyalty or corruption.Certificate wasn't produced before 11am, so, the nomination was rejected pic.twitter.com/Intq2S9Kpc

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) May 1, 2019

In 2017, Yadav had uploaded a video in social media where he complained that poor quality food was being served to personnels guarding the Indo-Pak border.

This led to a huge furore and a court martial enquiry was held against him, which culminated in his dismissal on grounds of making false complaints in media.

Yadav had initially announced that he will take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Varanasi as an independent candidate. Later, Samajwadi Party announced its support to him and fielded him as its candidate.

Speaking to reporters after the Election Commission rejected his nomination from Varanasi as an SP candidates, Tej Bahadur said that "the authorities are being pressurised" and that he will go to the Supreme Court.