Setback for Congress, Rajya Sabha nominee Meenakshi Natarajan's nomination rejected for hiding information about case

NEW DELHI: Congress Rajya Sabha candidate from Madhya Pradesh Meenakshi Natrajan's nomination was rejected on Tuesday on charges of concealing information about a case in her affidavit.

"Natarajan’s nomination has been rejected by the Returning Officer on the grounds of hiding information about a case," a Madhya Pradesh assembly official told news agency PTI.

The decision was taken following a complaint was submitted by the 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 is pending against Natarajan in a Telangana court and is not mentioned in the affidavit.

He said the Returning Officer has 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.

He claimed several other deficiencies were found in the nomination.

Congress's Madhya Pradesh in-charge, Harish Chaudhary, claimed that no case had been filed against Natarajan and that the BJP is bringing up such cases to harass her.

He said Natarajan had received a show-cause notice from the court, and it was not necessary to mention it in the affidavit.

He said the Election Commission's instructions are clear that information must be provided in the nomination when a case is filed, not upon receiving a notice.

"Technically, Natarajan's nomination cannot be rejected," Chaudhary added.

Earlier in the day, Congress leaders on Tuesday alleged poaching attempts by Bharatiya Janata Party and shifted its MLAs to Congress-ruled Karnataka to prevent cross-voting.

"All Congress MLAs are being shifted to Bengaluru in party-ruled Karnataka," Saunsar MLA Vijay Revanath Choure told news agency PTI.

The 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly forms the electoral college for the Rajya Sabha election. With the House's effective strength reduced to 229 due to a vacancy, a candidate needs 58 first-preference votes to secure a seat in the Upper House.

The BJP currently has 164 MLAs, while the Congress has 64 and the Bharat Adivasi Party one. The assembly strength fell by one after Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti's membership from the Datia constituency was revoked.

On paper, the BJP has enough numbers to comfortably win two of the three seats, requiring 116 votes in total. After securing those two victories, it will be left with 48 votes — 10 short of the 58 needed for a third seat. The Congress, meanwhile, has four votes more than the minimum required to elect its candidate.

Ahead of June 18 elections, BJP is assured of winning two seats with 116 votes and has fielded party national general secretary Tarun Chugh and state unit secretary Rajneesh Agrawal.

The BJP has also fielded Mahesh Kewat, chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Fishermen Welfare Board, as its third candidate.


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