‘Tough’ Varanasi DM in his toughest job

He concedes conducting elections in the high-profile constituency was among his toughest assignments so far. “It takes quite a bit of hard work to get elections conducted. But that is part of the job,” he tells The Indian Express over phone.

In the last few days, all three main parties have levelled allegations against him or his men for being unfair. The day Modi filed his nomination, the Congress accused him of “accepting nomination papers from Modi, whereas other candidates had been handing over the papers to the deputy DEO.” The party alleged Yadav allowed more than four persons, apart from the candidate, into his office. Yadav responded that only two BJP leaders, the main candidate and a substitute, had filed their nominations.

A couple of days ago, Arvind Kejriwal demanded that the circle officer (local intelligence unit) be removed for being a “BJP supporter”. Yadav said the officer was only performing his duty.

Now, responding to BJP allegations questioning his impartiality, Yadav says: “What do I say? They are doing what they want to.”

He explains why he denied permission for the rally: “The local police report and the intelligence report were negative. Even the officer of Gujarat police, a deputy superintendent of police (deputed to the chief minister’s security), gave a negative report,” He pointed out that the BJP got permission for four other rallies.

Yadav is married with a daughter. He hails from Shahjahanpur and went to IIT-Roorkee. The mechanical engineer has served as DM of Maharajganj and Azamgarh, from where he was transferred as additional commissioner, rural development and MGNREGS, but he did not join and was eventually transferred to Varanasi.