Allahabad High Court adjourns hearing on plea challenging Narendra Modi's election from Varanasi; next hearing on 19 July

Allahabad: Former BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav was not given an opportunity to be heard by election authorities before rejection of his nomination papers for Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency polls, his counsel claimed on Wednesday in the Allahabad High Court which was hearing his election petition. [caption id=“attachment_3738697” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Allahabad High Court. PTI[/caption] The petition was filed by Yadav challenging the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi parliamentary constituency in the recently held Lok Sabha election. Yadav’s nomination papers were rejected by the district returning officer of Varanasi on 1 May, 2019 following his failure to submit a certificate that he was not sacked from the BSF for either corruption or disloyalty. In the election petition, Yadav alleged that his nomination paper was wrongly rejected by the returning officer of Varanasi and requested the court to declare null and void Modi’s election as member of Parliament from Varanasi seat. Appearing on behalf of Yadav, senior advocate Dharmendra argued that the petitioner was not given an opportunity to be heard before rejection of his nomination paper. He also filed an application for some amendment in the petition which was allowed by the court. After hearing the counsel for the petitioner, the court fixed 19 July  for the next hearing. Meanwhile, the high court also also issued a notice to BJP MP from Badaun Sanghmitra Maurya on an election petition filed by Samajwadi Party candidate Dharmendra Yadav. The court will hear the matter on 21 August.