Several Opposition leaders trained guns at the BJP on Tuesday amid an escalating controversy over Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan's Rajya Sabha nomination rejection by the Election Commission. While some claimed “conspiracy” behind the move, others gave the poll panel a reminder of times when alleged discrepancies were overlooked.
In a huge setback for Natarajan, who was Congress's sole Rajya Sabha candidate in Madhya Pradesh, her nomination papers were rejected over allegedly failing to disclose a court summons issued to her in 2022.
However, the Congress rubbished claims of any error or non-disclosure as “humbug” and said that Natarajan's Rajya Sabha setback was only an attempt to snatch the party's seat.
‘Joke of an excuse’, ‘seat chori’ attempt
Reacting to Natarajan's Rajya Sabha nomination cancellation, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra said that move was made on a “flimsy joke of an excuse”. “It shows how desperate Modi Shah are to control both Houses & amend the constitution . Else their time is up in 2029,” she said in a tweet.
Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy called the move a “seat chori (theft)” attempt and alleged conspiracy by the BJP. “This is an assault on democracy. People’s voices are being stifled. This is a dark day for Indian democracy and needs to be condemned by all citizens,” Reddy said.
{{/usCountry}}Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy called the move a “seat chori (theft)” attempt and alleged conspiracy by the BJP. “This is an assault on democracy. People’s voices are being stifled. This is a dark day for Indian democracy and needs to be condemned by all citizens,” Reddy said.
{{/usCountry}}Notably, BJP minister Kailash Vijayvargiya on Tuesday claimed a rift within the Congress, suggesting that papers pointing to errors in Natarajan's candidature were obtained from Telangana, a Congress-ruled state. He suggested that it was likely that someone from Congress gave out that information.
A Smriti Irani reminder
Weighing in on the controversy, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi gave the Election Commission a reminder and alleged that former BJP MP Smriti Irani was allowed a Lok Sabha contest despite “three different educational qualifications” on her affidavit. “But Meenakshi Natarajan of the Congress has her RS nomination cancelled because her affidavit doesn’t mention some obscure complaint with no FIR & zero chance to explain to EC,” Chaturvedi said in an X post.
As stated in an earlier HT report, BJP leader Rahul Kothari had filed a complaint, claiming Meenakshi Natarajan failed to mention in her papers the summons by the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) in Hyderabad, following which her nomination was reevaluated and later cancelled.
Smriti Irani's Lok Sabha candidature affidavit had been in focus a few years ago after a petitioner alleged that she had given contradictory information in her affidavits filed before contesting elections in 2004, 2011 and 2014.
‘Blatant assault on democratic principles’
Kerala chief minister VD Satheesan also condemned Natarajan's nomination cancellation, calling it a “blatant assault on democratic principles”.
“Democracy cannot flourish when constitutional norms are sacrificed for partisan interests. Such actions weaken public faith in our institutions and must be unequivocally condemned,” he said in a tweet.
In Madhya Pradesh, Congress leader Kamal Nath also alleged attempts to snatch the party's seat by cancelling Natarajan's nomination. He also said that a flight full of Congress MLAs was “deliberately denied permission” for take off for a long time. The legislators were leaving for Bengaluru amid concerns of cross-voting.
Meanwhile, Congress leader KC Venugopal also rejected claims regarding Natarajan's nomination papers. "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. 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," he posted on X.
Venugopal, along with senior Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh, Sachin Pilot, and others, held a protest outside the EC's Delhi office on Tuesday.