The Returning Officer (RO) for the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency rejected the nomination of Comedian Shyam Rangeela, who had announced that he would contest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the seat, on grounds that it was “incomplete”.
Rangeela alleged that his nomination was accepted by RO before the 3 pm deadline on Tuesday, the final day for filing nominations. However, on Wednesday, during the scrutiny of nominations, he was informed that his nomination had been rejected due to failure to take the oath, a requirement stipulated by the Constitution.
In response to Rangeela’s public statement on X Wednesday regarding this issue, Varanasi District Magistrate and RO S Rajalingam clarified the situation saying there were “deficiencies”.
“Your nomination paper has been cancelled because the affidavit submitted by you was incomplete and you did not take the oath/affirmation, a copy of the order of which has also been made available to you,” the DM said.
According to Article 84 of the Constitution, an Indian citizen who wishes to contest polls must take an oath in the presence of a person authorised by the Election Commission (EC), to bear “true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established, and uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India”. That individual is usually the RO.
The EC’s Handbook for ROs, 2023, says the oath or affirmation should be made and subscribed before the date fixed by the EC for the scrutiny of nominations. It also mandates the candidate to sign the form on which the oath is written in the presence of authorised person.
“It should be borne in mind that mere signing on the paper on which the form of oath is written is not sufficient. The candidate must make the oath before the authorised person. The latter should ask the candidate to read aloud the oath and then to sign and give the date on the paper on which it is written… The authorised person will forthwith give a certificate to the candidate that he has made and subscribed the oath before him on that day at a particular hour. The certificate will be given to the candidate without his applying for it. This will avoid all controversy later on as to whether the candidate had taken the oath or not,” the handbook states.
The Rajasthan-native Rangeela, who filed his nomination under his official name Shyam Sunder, alleged several irregularities in the nomination process. Firstly, he claimed that he and other aspirants were denied entry to the District Magistrate’s office when attempting to file their nominations on Monday. Further, he alleged that on Tuesday, the same day Prime Minister Modi visited the office to file his nomination, he was only allowed entry at the last minute. According to Rangeela, nominations are accepted from 11 am to 3 pm, and his nomination was accepted at 2:58 pm, just two minutes before the deadline.
“When we informed him that we had come with the affidavit before [closing] time (11:59 pm), he said, ‘Are you here for a picnic? You are roaming around at night. Is this a picnic spot? Get out of here,” he said, in a video he posted on his X handle.
He asserted that the RO pointed out a missing affidavit, which he promptly arranged and submitted later the same day. However, Rangeela contended that the RO did not inform him about the requirement of taking the oath until after his nomination was rejected.
Notably, the scrutiny of nominations by the RO is considered to be a quasi-judicial function. If a candidate thinks the RO has been unfair, the person can file an election petition challenging the rejection of the nomination.
Earlier, in the 2019 general elections, from the Varanasi constituency, sacked BSF constable Tej Bahadur Yadav’s nomination as a Samajwadi Party candidate, was also rejected on grounds that he “failed to submit the NOC within the stipulated time of 11 am on May 1”.
The RO had said that a sacked government employee could not contest elections for at least five years—unless a no-objection certificate (NOC) is submitted. The NOC must clarify that he/she was not dismissed for corruption or disloyalty.
He was sacked in April 2017 after his video about poor food quality served to Army personnel went viral early that year.