Bhopa | The upcoming elections to three Rajya Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh took a dramatic turn on Tuesday with the nomination of Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan being rejected on charges of concealing information about a case in the affidavit.
"Natarajan's nomination has been rejected by the Returning Officer on the grounds of hiding information about a case," an MP Assembly official told PTI.
The Congress sharply criticised the rejection of its candidate's nomination, dubbing it as an example of "seat theft".
Senior lawyer and Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha told PTI Videos, "I have personally examined the nomination papers. This is no longer a case of vote theft, but rather a case of seat theft. Democracy has been openly robbed. You may ask how? She (Natarajan) had not concealed any information that was required to be declared. No FIR was filed against her."
A complaint was submitted by BJP candidate Mahesh Kewat, contesting the third Rajya Sabha seat, to the Returning Officer alleging that Natarajan deliberately hid information about a case filed against her in Telangana.
Sanket Gupta, the lawyer representing Kewat, told reporters that a criminal case was pending against Natarajan in a Telangana court and this was not mentioned in her affidavit submitted along with the nomination papers.
He said the Returning Officer rejected her nomination on this basis.
"This information has been deliberately concealed. According to Supreme Court guidelines, you are required to provide this information in the affidavit. Kewat had filed an objection to Natarajan's candidacy under this same provision," he added.
Gupta claimed several other "deficiencies" were also found in the nomination papers.
State minister Kailash Vijayvargiya called it a "victory for justice" and said the BJP had filed its objection following constitutional procedures.
Tankha insisted Natarajan, a former Lok Sabha member from Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh, faces no FIR.
"There was only a notice under Section 223 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, in which an applicant claimed compensation of Rs 10 crore from her and others. Natarajan objected to that notice, stating that it could not have been sent to her because she had no connection to the case. There was no crime registered, no FIR, and no legal case pending."
The Rajya Sabha MP called the nomination rejection a sad development.
"So, what could she declare as an FIR or a judicial case? Merely issuing a notice by a court does not, in itself, establish a case or a crime. Without any legal process, an unusual situation was created, based on which the Bhopal Returning Officer defeated the winning candidate of a national party. This is extremely sad," Tankha said.
He suggested the Congress should take the matter to the Supreme Court.
"It is a murder of democracy. We understand that an election petition can be filed against this, but in these special circumstances, I would advise my party to go directly to the Supreme Court. The entire matter must be exposed and those responsible must be exposed. If this practice of rejecting nomination papers begins in a democracy, then democracy will cease to exist in this country. This will be the beginning of the end of democracy," Tankha asserted.
Congress's Madhya Pradesh in-charge, Harish Chaudhary, claimed no case had been filed against Natarajan and that the BJP was bringing up such cases to harass her.
He maintained Natarajan had just received a show-cause notice from the court, and it was not necessary to mention it in the affidavit.
Election Commission's instructions are clear that information must be provided in the nomination when a case is filed, not upon receiving a notice, Chaudhary argued.
"Technically, Natarajan's nomination cannot be rejected," Chaudhary added.
The Rajya Sabha polls are scheduled to be held on June 18. The 230-member assembly makes up the Electoral College for the elections to the Upper House of Parliament. With the assembly's effective strength being 229, a candidate requires 58 first-preference votes to win.
The ruling BJP, which has 164 MLAs, is assured of winning two seats with 116 votes, while the Congress can win one seat.
New Delhi | A Congress delegation is likely to meet the Election Commission on Wednesday over the rejection of party candidate Meenakshi Natarajan's nomination for the June 18 Rajya Sabha polls.
The party had sought time from the Election Commission (EC), and the meeting has now been scheduled for 12 noon on Wednesday, sources said.
The poll authority has written to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, inviting a party delegation to discuss the rejection of Natarajan’s nomination, they said.
The upcoming elections to three Rajya Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh took a dramatic turn in Bhopal on Tuesday, as the nomination of Natarajan was rejected on charges of concealing information about a case in her affidavit.
"The returning officer has rejected Natarajan's nomination on the grounds of hiding information about a case," an MP Assembly official told PTI.
A complaint was submitted by the BJP's Rajya Sabha candidate Mahesh Kewat to the returning officer, alleging that Natarajan deliberately hid information about a case filed against her in Telangana.
Sanket Gupta, the lawyer representing Kewat, told reporters that a criminal case is pending against Natarajan in a Telangana court, which has not been mentioned in her affidavit.
New Delhi | The Congress on Tuesday accused the BJP of destroying the democratic process over the rejection of the nomination of its Rajya Sabha candidate Meenakshi Natarajan in Madhya Pradesh and termed it a "daylight robbery of democracy."
A high drama ensued at the Election Commission office late in the night, when top Congress leaders rushed there to hand over a petition against the rejection, but were denied entry.
The security refused the Congress leaders, including Jairam Ramesh, to enter the EC office, saying they had not taken permission from the poll body.
Congress leaders K C Venugopal, Sachin Pilot, Bhupesh Baghel and Ramesh staged a dharna outside the EC office.
Meanwhile, a communique from the EC said it will meet the party representatives on Wednesday.
Venugopal, the AICC general secretary, Organisation, said the rejection of nomination showed the BJP's "hollow commitment" to the Constitution and democracy.
"Rejecting Smt. Meenakshi Natarajan ji's nomination to the Rajya Sabha is a blatant attempt by the BJP to destroy the democratic process in a clandestine manner. The allegation of any error or non-disclosure in her nomination is complete humbug and a desperate attempt to snatch a seat from the INC," Venugopal said on X.
"They stooped so low as to reject her nomination when they realised that their dirty tricks to compromise our INC MLAs is going to fail. This shows the BJP’s hollow commitment to the Constitution and democracy. At every step of the way, they are hell-bent on Vote Chori -- one way or another," the Congress leader said.
"We will not take this daylight robbery of democracy lying down, and will fight this legally as well as politically on the streets tooth-and-nail," he added.
Another Congress Rajya Sabha MP, Vivek Tankha, alleged that after vote theft, a chain of "seat theft" has begun.
"Meenakshi ji's Rajya Sabha nomination has not been cancelled. Murder of democracy has taken place. This is nothing but murder of democracy," he said.
The upcoming elections to three Rajya Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh took a dramatic turn on Tuesday with the nomination of Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan being rejected on charges of concealing information about a case in the affidavit.
"Natarajan's nomination has been rejected by the Returning Officer on the grounds of hiding information about a case," an MP Assembly official told PTI.
A complaint was submitted by BJP candidate Mahesh Kewat, contesting the third Rajya Sabha seat, to the returning officer alleging that Natarajan deliberately hid information about a case filed against her in Telangana.
Sanket Gupta, the lawyer representing Kewat, told reporters that a criminal case pending against Natarajan in a Telangana court was not mentioned in the affidavit.