Rajya Sabha polls: Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan’s nomination rejected amid chaos in Madhya Pradesh
A dramatic day of political developments in Madhya Pradesh’s capital Bhopal, which began with several Congress MLAs heading to the airport to fly to Bengaluru, ended with the nomination of Meenakshi Natarajan, the party’s candidate for one of the three Rajya Sabha seats from the state, being rejected during scrutiny.
This prompted top Congress leaders led by its national general secretary KC Venugopal to stage a sit-in outside the Election Commission of India (ECI) office in New Delhi.
The rejection came as a group of Congress MLAs were on their way to Bengaluru amid fears of cross-voting in the polls, prompting state officials to ask them to return to Bhopal.
Ms Natarajan accused the BJP of “going from stealing votes to stealing seats”.
Congress leaders led by its national general secretary KC Venugopal staged a sit-in outside the Election Commission of India office in New Delhi.
“It started when the BJP fielded a third candidate despite not having enough members and we started to understand the kind of politics it is practicing with democracy and the constitution. What was limited to stealing votes through SIR (special intensive revision of electoral rolls) and other methods has today reached (the stage of) stealing seats,” she said at a press conference with a senior state party official late on Tuesday.
Ms Natarajan’s nomination was rejected by Assembly Secretary Arvind Sharma, who is also the Returning Officer, following an objection raised by BJP’s third-place candidate Mahesh Kewat and state party general secretary Rahul Kothari. They alleged that Ms. Natarajan had “concealed” details of a case filed against her in Telangana, Hyderabad.
The objection led to chaotic scenes at the Assembly Secretariat in Bhopal where scores of Congress and BJP workers came face to face and engaged in arguments.
Several senior state BJP leaders and MLAs, including Cabinet Ministers Rakesh Singh and Kailash Vijayvargiya, as well as Mr Kewat, remained in the Assembly Secretariat during the meeting and celebrated after the Returning Officer ruled against Ms Natarajan.
Mr. Singh said, “She deliberately hid this case in the information she provided. The form was incomplete. She gave wrong details. On all these issues, due opportunity was given and both sides presented their arguments. But because there were serious errors in her form and the case filed in Telangana was deliberately hidden, the Returning Officer rejected her form.”
The case relates to a private complaint against various individuals, including Ms. Natarajan, under Sections 356, 351(2), 61, 45, 46 and 79 of the BNS. However, the Congress maintained that it was not a criminal case and only a notice was issued to Ms. Natarajan to which she replied.
Congress Rajya Sabha MP and Senior Advocate Vivek Tankha said on X, “Confusion is spreading over Meenakshi Natarajan’s nomination. No criminal case has been registered. Only a notice has been received as to why ₹10 crore compensation should not be filed against her and others. Meenakshi’s lawyer has not responded to the notice. No FIR.”
Ms. Natarajan alleged that the BJP had challenged her nomination “under the guise of a legal notice” after realizing that the Congress MLAs were united.
“When they felt that it was a united house, they challenged the election petition under the guise of a legal notice that was not even taken into account. Our lawyers presented arguments, but they were not even properly heard or considered, and the decision was made. Their intention is clear,” she said.
“The question is whether India’s federal structure and democracy will survive or not. Will the attempts to impose a one-party system and dictatorship be destroyed or not? We will challenge it before every democratic forum,” she added.
Late in the evening, a Congress delegation comprising Mr. Venugopal, pilot Sachin and Bhupesh Baghel arrived outside the ECI office but were not allowed inside.
“This is a basic thing of democracy. We will sit here until they allow us to go in. We are very responsible people. There are former chief ministers, deputy chief ministers and MPs,” Mr Venugopal told reporters.
The ECI has scheduled a meeting with the party delegation on Wednesday noon.
Later in the evening, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav alleged that Congress leaders had hidden information about the case involving Ms Natarajan “as part of a conspiracy”.
“They were aware of the matter. When the Returning Officer presented the information to them at the hearing today, they accepted it. That means they deliberately kept the Returning Officer in the dark. The decision came on that basis. I welcome the scrutiny process,” Mr Yadav said, claiming that the Congress was afraid of defeat.
He said raising an objection is part of the democratic process.
Earlier in the day, more than 45 Congress MLAs gathered at Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar’s residence before proceeding to Bhopal airport to board a special flight to Bengaluru. However, they had to wait for more than four hours before the first plane took off with one batch of MLAs and their family members. They alleged that the airport authorities and air traffic control officials did not give permission for the take off.
Several opposition legislators also alleged that they were “approached on behalf of the ruling party with lucrative offers”, with MLA Babu Jandel claiming he received “an offer of ₹10 crore through a businessman”.
While the BJP is safely poised to win two of the three Rajya Sabha seats, it has 48 MLA votes at its disposal after that. Mr Kewat’s candidacy was announced late on Sunday after several rounds of negotiations as the party falls short of the 10 minimum required votes to win one seat. The Congress has 62 valid votes in the Diet.
The two BJP candidates who are comfortably positioned to win are national general secretary Tarun Chug and state unit secretary Rajneesh Agrawal.
| Video Credit: PTI
Published – 09 Jun 2026 19:58 IST