New Delhi: Comedian Shyam Rangeela popularly known for mimicking Prime Minister Narendra Modi was reportedly denied to file nomination from the Varanasi seat on Monday, May 13. Shyam had announced his intention to contest against PM Modi.

The nomination process began on May 7, but Shyam alleged on May 10 that obtaining the nomination form from the constituency was unnecessarily complicated. He claimed that he, along with several others intending to file nominations, were unable to do so.

Shyam, taking to his official ‘X’ handle posted a video of him speaking to the media, wherein he states that, “I have seen people crying trying to get nominations. People have been waiting since 8 AM in the collectorate. They are not being given the form. The officials are asking us to understand the matter, and we are understanding why we are not being given the form.”

Shyam further expressed his frustration, stating that the entire day of May 10 went waste as nobody was allowed to file nomination, and the situation continued on May 13. He emphasized that the right to contest elections was being denied.

Alleging that “I can see democracy being strangled,” Shyam claimed that despite completing all the process as said by the officials, they were not let inside the collectorate, "this is to enable PM Modi to win unopposed. I will not take my decision back, I will file the nomination,” he added.

Shyam Rangeela also wrote to the Election Commission of India, highlighting the obstacles faced despite completing all formalities and urged the Election Commission to take action so that interested candidates could fill their forms.

Meanwhile, it's worth noting that the last date for nomination in the Varanasi parliamentary constituency is May 14, and PM Modi is also scheduled to file his nomination on the same day.

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New Delhi (PTI): Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan on Monday officially accepted the merger of seven Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MPs with the BJP, reducing the strength of Arvind Kejriwal's party in the Upper House to three.

After this transition, the BJP's strength in the Upper House has increased to 113.

Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Sandeep Pathak, Vikramjit Sahney, Swati Maliwal, and Rajinder Gupta are the seven MPs who have merged.

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The Rajya Sabha website now shows that the seven MPs are part of the BJP list of members.

The seven MPs had on Friday petitioned the Rajya Sabha Chairman to be treated as BJP MPs after the merger and the same has been accepted, sources said.

The AAP had on Sunday moved a petition before the RS Chairman seeking the termination of the membership of the seven MPs, who had switched sides.

Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh said he has submitted a petition to Chairman Radhakrishnan seeking the disqualification of the seven party MPs in the Upper House, who recently quit the AAP and announced their merger with the BJP.

On Friday last, the AAP suffered a jolt when the seven Rajya Sabha MPs quit and announced merger with the BJP, alleging that the Kejriwal-led party had strayed from its principles, values and core morals.