A dispute arose in Uttar Pradesh regarding discrepancies found within the electoral documents of Vishwadeep Singh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) contender from Firozabad, which seemingly indicated a 15-year difference in his age between the 2014 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
According to the affidavit filed on April 18 of this year, Singh's age was stated as 75. However, in the affidavit submitted during the 2014 elections, his age was listed as 60.
Shivraj Singh, the district president of the Samajwadi Party (SP), disclosed that the party had raised concerns about the age disparity with the election officer.
"We highlighted the inaccurate information presented in the affidavit submitted by BJP candidate Thakur Vishwadeep Singh during his nomination filing. Our concerns were brought forth by our legal representative, Neeraj Yadav," he mentioned.
Following a deliberation between the legal representatives, the election officer ruled in favor of Singh, affirming his age as 75 years as indicated in the recent affidavit.
"This is not a dispute but an endeavor to incite controversy. The SP raised an objection, asserting that the candidate's age was 60 years in the affidavit filed a decade ago. Previously, the nomination form did not include a date of birth," stated Singh's lawyers, Rajesh Kumar Kulshrestha and Alok Kulshrestha.
"The current age of 75 years stated in the affidavit is accurate. The election officer validated the current age and dismissed the SP's objection," they added.
Singh also clarified that the information provided in the recent affidavit was correct.
Previously, Singh had contested the Lok Sabha elections unsuccessfully on a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ticket in 2014 and later joined the BJP in 2022. This year, he faces Akshay Yadav from the SP as his opponent.
The polling for the Firozabad Lok Sabha seat is scheduled for the third phase of general elections on May 7.
