Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Nomination of independent candidate 'Arthi Baba' cancelled

Gorakhpur (UP): The nomination of independent candidate Rajan Yadav alias 'Arthi Baba' has been cancelled from the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat.

During the scrutiny, supervised by Returning Officer Krishna Karunesh, who is also the District Magistrate, 19 nomination papers, including that of Yadav, were cancelled.

Yadav, who arrived on a bier at the collectorate office here on Tuesday to file his nomination, said he will sit on a bier at Jantar Mantar in Delhi to protest against the policies of the Election Commission.

"At the time of filing my nomination on May 14, I asked the officials present there about the rules and they said that all columns should be filled properly. I adhered to their instructions yet my nomination was cancelled," he said.

Yadav added that he has not received any official information about the cancellation yet and only heard about it from some media personnel on Wednesday evening.

He said the filing of nomination papers should be made online as the present process is very tedious.

Yadav also criticised the practice of making the assets of candidates public, saying he finds it intimidating, especially, due to his weak financial background.

He claimed that even in 2014, when he filed his nomination against BJP senior leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in Lucknow, it was cancelled.

Yadav said that he plans to contest against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the 2025 Delhi assembly elections.

He said he has done an MBA but is now a Buddhist monk and is living on alms. He has unsuccessfully contested elections in the past too.

Yadav said he has opened his election office at a cremation ground and wants to take up issues affecting the common man like vehicle fines under the new Motor Vehicles Act, which he wants revoked.

"Where will an unemployed labourer get the money to pay such hefty fines,” he said.

He also said that the facility of lifetime incoming calls “that has been discontinued on mobile phones should be restarted".

Yadav said he decided to remain unmarried as he wanted to devote his life to protecting democracy in the country.

Election to the high-profile Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat, a stronghold of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, will be held in the last phase on June 1.