After Nomination Scrapped, FIR Against Tej Bahadur for ‘Rioting’

BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav’s nomination was rejected on Wednesday by poll authorities.

Ex-BSF Jawan Tej Bahadur.

(Photo: Liju Joseph/The Quint) 

An FIR was filed against former BSF jawanTej Bahadur Yadav on Wednesday, 1 May, for allegedly gathering a crowd and creating ruckus at the nomination office after his candidature from Varanasi was cancelled by the Election Commission. Yadav was slated to fight against PM Modi in Varanai against PM Modi.

The case was filed against him under section 147 (punishment for rioting) and section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant).

Amid high drama, dismissed BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav’s nomination as the Samajwadi Party candidate against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency was rejected on Wednesday by poll authorities.

The former Border Security Force (BSF) constable had hit the headlines after his video of the alleged poor quality of food being served to the jawans had gone viral on social media. He was subsequently dismissed.

Yadav was served notices on Tuesday by the Varanasi returning officer over "discrepancies" in the two sets of nomination papers submitted by him.

In the first set of papers on 24 April, he had mentioned that he was dismissed from the BSF. On 29 April, he submitted a second set of papers - this time as the SP nominee for the Lok Sabha seat - but did not give out this information.

He was also required to submit a no-objection certificate from the BSF, giving reasons for his dismissal.

District Magistrate Surendra Singh referred to Section 9 and Section 33 of The Representation of People Act and said that Yadav’s nomination was not accepted as he “could not furnish the required documents” in the stipulated time.

Section 9 of the act bars anybody who has been dismissed from a central or state government job within the last five years for disloyalty to the nation or corruption.

Section 33 requires the candidate to submit a certificate from the Election Commission that he/she has not been dismissed on these charges in the last five years.

Addressing a battery of reporters at the Collectorate Office, the DM claimed that Yadav and his team were given "enough time" but "they could not furnish the documents".

A dejected Yadav, however, claimed that he had submitted the required documents to the poll authorities.

"I had raised my voice about what I had felt was wrong when I was with the BSF. I decided to come to Benaras to assert that voice for justice. If there was a problem with my nomination, why did they not tell me when I had filed (my papers) as an independent candidate," he lamented.

He accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of resorting to "dictatorial steps" to stop him from fighting elections.

"My grandfather was with Azad Hind Fauj, I am a son of a farmer and served as as a jawan... now I can't even fight elections. This is dictatorship," he said.

Yadav has decided to approach the Supreme Court in the matter.

(With inputs from PTI)