Lok Sabha Elections 2024: The nomination paper of Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate from Khajuraho Lok Sabha seat Meera Yadav has been rejected due to a lack of signature at one place in the form and an old certified copy voter list, the candidate's husband Deep Narayan Yadav said, as reported by news agency ANI. According to the official list of valid candidates, the name of SP candidate Meera Yadav is not available on the list. SP candidate Yadav filed the papers on Thursday, April 4, the last day to file the nomination for the second phase of Lok Sabha polls.
A total of 14 candidates, including BJP candidate VD Sharma, BSP candidate Kamlesh Kumar, and 12 independent candidates, are valid candidates to contest the Lok Sabha polls, as reported by ANI. Besides, returning officer and Panna collector Suresh Kumar also issued a letter in which he mentioned the reasons for not accepting the nomination of the SP candidate.
SP national president Akhilesh Yadav called it a blatant murder of democracy and demanded a judicial enquiry into the matter. "Cancelling the nomination of India Alliance's SP candidate Meera Yadav from Khajuraho seat is a blatant murder of democracy. It is being said that if the signatures were not there then why did the inspecting officer take the form. All these are excuses and frustration of the defeated BJP. Those who can cheat in front of the court's camera, what kind of conspiracies they must be hatching behind the back after getting the form," former UP CM Yadav said in a post on X.
"BJP is liar not only in words but also in actions and is guilty of making the entire administrative system corrupt. There should be a judicial inquiry into this incident as cancelling someone's nomination is a democratic crime," he further stated.
Speaking to reporters, the husband of the candidate Deep Narayan Yadav said, "Yesterday, after checking, it was verified. Also, there is a rule in the rule book that if there is any shortcoming and even if there is an illiterate candidate, then it is the responsibility of the election officer and the people concerned to correct it. But yesterday the paper was declared ok. Now it is said that there are two shortcomings in it. The certified copy of our voter list is old and there is a lack of a signature at one place," as quoted by ANI.
"If it was looking old then we should have been informed and we would have arranged a new one as we had time. Collector said that the nomination was rejected due to the said two reasons. I can say that if there were any shortcomings then the Collector should have informed about it yesterday, we could have fulfilled it. Now, we will go to the High Court and the Supreme Court," he added.
On the other hand, BJP candidate VD Sharma said, "As far as Khajuraho is concerned, we enjoy contesting elections. I am wondering why this happened to the opposition candidate who was contesting against me. Elections should be fought, it is fun," as quoted by ANI. Besdies, the Congress party wrote a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner of India demanding to suspend returning officer Suresh Kumar.
Notably, Khajuraho is Madhya Pradesh's only constituency assigned to Samajwadi Party, a member of the I.N.D.I.A bloc, as part of a seat-sharing deal with the Congress. Khajuraho will go to poll in the second phase on April 26 with six other parliamentary seats in the state. Lok Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh are set to be held in the first four phases of the total seven phases dated April 19, April 26, May 7, and May 13. The votes will be counted on June 4.