Meenakshi Natarajan nomination: Congress leaders eyeing RS seat ‘spoilt’ chances of party nominee, says M.P. CM

A day after the nomination of Meenakshi Natarajan, a Congress candidate for one of the three Rajya Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh, which goes to polls on June 18, was rejected during scrutiny, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said Opposition party leaders “looking after the seat” were behind the alleged irregularities in the nomination form.

The Congress, however, claimed that Ms Natarajan’s candidature was rejected as part of a “premeditated conspiracy” and that all 62 MLAs will call on Speaker Droupadi Murmu in Delhi on Friday to intervene in the matter.

Ms. Natarajan’s candidature was rejected by Assembly Secretary Arvind Sharma, the Returning Officer for the election, based on the objection of Mahesh Kewat, the BJP candidate for the third seat, and Rahul Kothari, the State party general secretary. They alleged that the Congress candidate had “concealed” the details of a case filed against him in Telangana. Mr. Kewat is now set to win unopposed, ensuring victory for the BJP in all three seats.

“The Congress deliberately made the mistake in the form of its candidates due to fear of losing. Many Congress leaders said [Rajya Sabha] They sat down, but when they were not nominated, they broke the vote. [for Ms. Natarajan]said Mr. Yadav.

The CM also accused the Congress of “not trusting” its own MLAs following the party’s attempts to move them to Bengaluru due to fear of cross-polling. “Congress needs to introspect now,” he said.

State BJP president Hemant Khandelwal also criticized the Congress, alleging that there were infighting that led to the rejection of Ms. Natarajan’s candidacy. “Ghar ka Lanka dhaye (An insider brings down a kingdom). We were getting all the information from them. [Congress insiders] from time to time,” he claimed.

Meanwhile, some senior Congress leaders and MLAs accused the Returning Officer of being “biased” and staged a day-long hunger strike near the State Election Commission’s office in Bhopal. State Congress president Jitu Patwari said the party has approached the Election Commission of India and will also approach the Supreme Court challenging the rejection of Ms. Natarajan’s candidacy.

Announcing a State-wide protest on the issue, Mr. Patwari said party workers would loot the CM’s house in Bhopal and BJP offices in all districts. “We will expose the real face of BJP in every village and every home,” he said.

To talk HinduState Congress legal cell in-charge JP Dhanopia said that the FIR filed in Telangana was not a criminal case and no charges were leveled against Ms. Natararjan.