SC asks EC to reply on cancellation of Tej Bahadur's nomination from Varanasi by May 9

Yadav, a former BSF constable, had moved SC challenging the rejection of his nomination papers by the EC to contest Lok Sabha election 2019 from Varanasi constituency.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought a reply from Election Commission on the cancellation of Samajwadi Party candidate Tej Bahadur Yadav's nomination from Varanasi Lok Sabha seat by Thursday, May 9.

Yadav, a former BSF constable, had moved top court challenging the rejection of his nomination papers by the EC to contest Lok Sabha election 2019 from Varanasi constituency, from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also contesting.

Yadav's nomination was rejected on Wednesday over "discrepancies" in the application. In his petition, the dismissed BSF jawan alleged that he's being deliberately kept out of the election to ensure an easy win for PM Modi from Varanasi. He said that his nomination papers were cancelled at the behest of the BJP-led government at the Centre, adding that he had replied to the Election Commission's giving a thorough explanation over the difference in reasons. 

"My nomination has been rejected wrongly. I was asked to produce the evidence at 6.15 pm on Tuesday. We produced the evidence, still my nomination was rejected. We will go to the Supreme Court. We have been told that we did not produce the evidence that was asked from us before 11 am. Whereas, we had produced the evidence," he had said.

Before the SP-BSP-RLD combine named Yadav as the alliance candidate from the Varanasi Lok Sabha, he was in the fray as an independent candidate. 

Yadav shot into limelight in January 2017 after posting four videos on social media complaining about the quality of food given to soldiers at his camp along the Indo-Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir, sparking intense outrage across the country.

The BSF had later refuted his allegations and Yadav was dismissed from the service after an inquiry.