Nomination of SP's Khajuraho candidate rejected; Akhilesh calls it murder of democracy
Panna (MP), Apr 5: In a jolt to the opposition's INDIA bloc in Madhya Pradesh, nomination of the Samajwadi Party's (SP) candidate from Khajuraho Lok Sabha constituency, Meera Yadav, was on Friday rejected by the returning officer.
The development left the SP fuming with its chief Akhilesh Yadav terming it a "blatant murder" of democracy and demanding judicial probe.
Meera Yadav would challenge the rejection in the High Court, her husband Deep Narayan Yadav said.
Congress, the main opposition party in the BJP-ruled state, had left the Khajuraho seat for SP as per the seat-sharing arrangement within the INDIA bloc. Polling will be held for the seat in the second phase, on April 26.
The Panna district collector, who is also the election returning officer, rejected Meera Yadav's nomination 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 said.
The BJP has fielded its state unit president and sitting MP Vishnu Dutt Sharma who is seeking a second term from Khajuraho.
Yadav's husband Deep Narayan 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 (the deadline of) 3 pm, 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.
Taking to X , SP chief Akhilesh Yadav tweeted,|" The rejection of INDIA bloc's SP candidate from Khajuraho seat was a blatant murder of democracy.
"It is being said that it (nomination form) was not signed. Why the officer looking after |(such things) accepted the form. This is all just excuses and frustration of the defeated BJP," he stated.
There should be a judicial probe as the rejection of a candidate's nomination is a crime in democracy, Yadav wrote.
Notably, the SP had announced on March 30 that Manoj Yadav, who belongs to Shikohabad in Uttar Pradesh, would be given ticket from Khajuraho. But two days later, it replaced him with Meera Yadav, a local face, to take on V D Sharma who had won Khajuraho seat by more than 4.5 lakh votes in 2019.
Meera Yadav had won from Niwari assembly seat, part of Khajuraho Lok Sabha constituency, as SP candidate in 2008. Her husband Deep Narayan was the SP MLA in 2007 and 2012 from Garautha in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, which shares a border with MP's Niwari district. He has also been the SP's Madhya Pradesh unit chief.
The BJP has been winning the Khajuraho seat since 2004.
खजुराहो सीट से इंडिया गठबंधन की सपा प्रत्याशी मीरा यादव का नामांकन निरस्त करना सरेआम लोकतंत्र की हत्या है। कहा जा रहा है कि हस्ताक्षर नहीं थे तो फिर देखनेवाले अधिकारी ने फार्म लिया ही क्यों। ये सब बहाने हैं और हार चुकी भाजपा की हताशा। जो न्यायालय के कैमरे के सामने छल कर सकते हैं…
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) April 5, 2024
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
