New Delhi, May 1: Former Border Security Force (BSF) jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav's nomination as Samajwadi Party candidate from Varanasi has been rejected by the Election Commission. The polling body had asked him to submit evidence by today to prove that he was dismissed from the forces. Since he allegedly failed to meet the deadline, the Commission has cancelled his candidature. Who is Tej Bahadur Yadav?

"A person who has been dismissed from service from state or central government within last 5 years 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," the Varanasi District Magistrate said, while explaining the reason for rejecting the ex-BSF constable's nomination.

The EC decision has come as a major setback for the SP-BSP alliance in Uttar Pradesh, which had laid the groundwork to lead a high-octane campaign against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Varanasi. The seat goes to polls in the final phase of Lok Sabha elections, on May 19. Ex-BSF Jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav Wants PM Modi to Answer 'Why No Inquiry Ordered Into Pulwama Terror Attack'

Update by ANI:

"My nomination has been rejected wrongly. I was asked to produce the evidence at 6.15pm yesterday, we produced the evidence, still my nomination was rejected. We will go to the Supreme Court," Tej Bahadur told reporters after the rejected of his nomination by the polling body.

"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 said.

Tej Bahadur, who announced his decision to contest against PM Modi from Varanasi last month, had written to all political parties seeking the ticket from Varanasi. The Samajwadi Party on Saturday decided to field him from the constituency, replacing Shalini Yadav whom they had earlier announced as their candidate.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 01, 2019 04:03 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).