Shivpujan Ray Yadav’s nomination annulled

Kathmandu, November 27

The Election Commission has cancelled the nomination filed by Shivpujan Ray Yadav.

Yadav is the parliamentary first-past-the-post candidate from the CPN-Maoist Centre from Sarlahi-4. The poll panel stated that a complaint was lodged against Yadav’s candidacy at the EC’s district office, as well as in its central office.

EC Spokesperson Navaraj Dhakal said a meeting of the EC’s legal section held on Saturday decided to revoke Yadav’s candidacy, as the Special Court had convicted him for misusing his diplomatic passport.

“We have cancelled his nomination and informed the chief returning officer of Sarlahi district,” said Dhakal. He said the returning officer of Sarlahi-4 had informed Yadav about the EC’s decision.

According to Dhakal, independent candidate for parliamentary FPTP seat of Sarlahi-4 Ganesh Kumar Singh had lodged a complaint against Yadav at the EC’s district office. Another independent FPTP candidate from the same constituency, Anil Kumar Singh, had filed a complaint against Yadav at the EC’s central office.

They had also moved the Supreme Court against the EC for delaying a decision in Yadav’s case. The EC revoked Yadav’s candidacy after the SC sought an explanation from the poll panel.

Earlier, District Election Office, Sarlahi, had mailed the complaint against Yadav to the EC’s central office.

Yadav was convicted of misusing his red (diplomatic) passport and awarded a sentence of four months in jail and fined Rs 15,000 by the Special Court in 2015. The case is sub judice in the Supreme Court and the SC has fixed the final hearing of the case for December 10.

Yadav was elected to the first Constituent Assembly from Sarlahi-6 on Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum’s ticket. He lost the second Constituent Assembly election while contesting on Tarai-Madhes Sadbhavana Party’s ticket.

Nepali Congress candidate Amresh Kumar Singh and Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal’s candidate are also in the fray in Sarlahi-4.

Earlier, the EC had cancelled the candidacy of NC leader Govinda Raj Joshi, who had filed his papers from Tanahun-1 as an independent candidate.