Comedian Shyam Rangeela's nomination from the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency has been rejected, the Election Commission website showed on Wednesday.
Rangeela, who shot to fame for his mimicry of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, filed his nomination against the PM in Varanasi on Tuesday.
Reacting to the rejection of his election nomination, Rangeela said, "27 nominations were submitted yesterday and 32 were rejected today, I feel like laughing at the Election Commission, should I laugh? Or should I cry?"
He earlier alleged obstriction in filing his nomination papers to contest the Lok Sabha Elections against PM Modi from the Varanasi seat. He had claimed he was barred from entering the magistrate's office on Tuesday, coinciding with Prime Minister Modi's submission of nomination papers for the prestigious seat.
However, a few hours later, he said he filed the nomination and said he had full faith in the democracy of the country.
"With your love and support, I have filed my nomination by fulfilling all the requirements as per the rules. I still have full faith in the democracy of this country. Now the next two-three days will be important. Thank you very much to all of you for your cooperation. My electoral future is in the hands of all the election officials who are the guardians of our democracy," the comedian said in a post on X.
Wednesday was the last day for filling of nominations for the Varanasi seat, scheduled for polling in the seventh and last phase of the Lok Sabha elections on June 1.
Prime Minister Modi, vying for a third term from Varanasi, secured the seat with a margin of nearly 4.8 Lakh votes in the 2019 elections. In 2014, he triumphed by a margin of 3.72 Lakh votes.
Another candidate, P Ayyakannu, a native of Trichy in Tamil Nadu and President of the National South Indian River Interlinking Agriculturist Association, claimed that Ayyakannu was de-boarded from the Varanasi-bound train on May 10 by the railway security personnel when he was on his way to file nomination from the seat.
He filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking an extension of the deadline for filing nomination papers to contest from Varanasi. However, the apex court on Wednesday refused to entertain the farmer leader's plea decrying the petition as publicity interest litigation.
"You want to withdraw, we can allow you to withdraw. If you want us to dismiss, we can dismiss it. These are all Publicity Interest Litigation,” a bench comprising justices Vikram Nath and Satish Chandra Sharma said.
Meanwhile, PM Modi filed his nomination in Varanasi on Tuesday, an event attended by several NDA leaders, including Union ministers and chief ministers, in a show of strength.
Sporting a white kurta-pajama and a blue sadri, Modi reached the district collectorate after a busy morning, which included an aarti on the banks of the Ganga at the Dashashwamedh ghat and prayers at the city's Kaal Bhairav temple.