Allahabad HC issues notice to Modi on petition challenging his election from Varanasi

Allahabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been issued a notice by the Allahabad High Court on a petition filed by Congress leader Ajay Rai challenging Modi's election from Varanasi.

In his petition, Rai, who contested as Congress' candidate from the constituency in the Lok Sabha polls, has reportedly alleged that Modi had left blank columns relating to his wife Yashoda Ben's PAN card details and her income which violated Supreme Court's directions.

The Congress leader has also alleged that though the Election Commission (EC) had laid down that a candidate in a Lok Sabha poll must not spend more than Rs 70 lakh during electioneering, crores were spent during Modi's campaign.

He has also claimed that a large number of BJP leaders had prolonged stays at luxury hotels of Varanasi to oversee the election arrangements there. Along with that his petition claims that distribution of T-shirts and caps bearing Modi's name and image among the people on a large scale was in violation of the Model Code of Conduct.

Registering a thumping victory in the Lok Sabha polls, Modi defeated his nearest rival Kejriwal by a massive margin of nearly 3.71 lakh votes. While Rai finished third ending up losing his deposit.

Modi retained Varanasi seat and resigned from the Vadodara seat from where he had also contested and registered victory by a record margin of 5.70 lakh votes.