Varanasi, May 1: Election Commission of India on Wednesday cancelled the nomination of Varanasi candidate and sacked BSF Soldier Tej Bahadur who was going to contest against PM Narendra Modi in these Lok Sabha elections. ‘Government employees who were dismissed from service cannot contest polls for five years,’ said the concerning authorities.
The Election Commission had issued a notice to Tej Bahadur Yadav asking him to explain reasons behind him being removed from the force. EC asked him to clarify on whether he was dismissed from the service for corruption or disloyalty to the government. EC also asked him to produce a No Objection Certificate from the BSF by May 1.
After the Election Commission rejected his nomination from Varanasi, Tej Bahadur said, “They asked for the evidence at 6.15 pm on Tuesday. We tried to send the documents to Delhi. But since the evidence didn’t reach them before 11 am on Wednesday, they cancelled the nomination. It is clear that how much the authorities are being pressurised. We will go to the Supreme Court.”
Tej Bahadur is a resident of Haryana and in several media interactions, he had earlier claimed to have been approached by various parties to join them. Initially he opted to contest as an independent candidate however earlier this week, the Samajwadi Party named Tej Bahadur Yadav as its candidate against PM Modi from Varanasi replacing Shalini Yadav.
Read here: Samajwadi Party fields sacked BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav from Varanasi against PM Modi
Tej Bahadur grabbed media attention after since he had posted four videos on Facebook in January, 2017, complaining about the unpalatable food at his camp along the Indo-Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir. Yadav had further alleged that the senior officials illegally sold off the food supplies meant for the troopers.
Yadav had also said that he was “mentally tortured” and had expressed apprehension that his seniors may take action against him for exposing the condition of soldiers on the border.
Also read: Son of BSF jawan Tej Bahadur who complained of food in 2017 video, found dead
The videos triggered outrage across the nation, but the BSF dismissed his allegations. He was later sacked after a three-month-long proceeding at a summary court-martial held in Jammu and Kashmir’s Samba district.
