Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan’s Rajya Sabha nomination rejected

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 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.