Nomination form of SP's Khajuraho candidate Meera Yadav rejected

Panna (MP): The nomination form of the Samajwadi Party's (SP) candidate from Khajuraho Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh was rejected after scrutiny by the returning officer on Friday.

The Congress had left the seat for SP as per the seat-sharing arrangement within the opposition's I.N.D.I.A. bloc.

"The Panna district collector, who is also the returning officer, rejected the nomination papers of Meera Yadav as she had not signed the 'B form' and also failed to attach a certified copy of the 2023 Assembly elections voters' list," a senior official told reporters.

The BJP has fielded sitting MP and its state unit president Vishnu Dutt Sharma from Khajuraho.

Yadav's husband Deep Narayan Yadav told reporters that they would move the high court against the returning officer's order.

'The form was verified yesterday after scrutiny. There is a rule that if there is any discrepancy, it is the duty of the returning officer to get it rectified even if the candidate is illiterate,' he said.

"Yesterday, the form was found to be alright. Today, two shortcomings were pointed out. First, the voters' list attached with the form is not certified or it is old. Signature was supposed to be made at two places, but it was made only in one place," he added.

Yadav also claimed that they did not get a certified copy of voters' list till April 3, and hence attached a copy that was available.

"We requested him (collector) that we still had time as we had come before 3 PM (deadline), and it could be rectified. He should have told us yesterday about it and we could have done it by now," Yadav added.

To a question, he said there were 15 other candidates in the fray, and 'we will support one of them after consulting our senior leaders.' The election will be contested under any circumstances, he added.