Surprise setback in Madhya Pradesh: Congress Rajya Sabha candidate Meenakshi Natarajan's nomination rejected, BJP enjoys last laugh

NEW DELHI: Congress faced an unexpected setback in Rajya Sabha elections after the nomination paper of Meenakshi Natarajan, a candidate from Madhya Pradesh, was rejected by the Returning Officer. With this, BJP candidate Mahesh Kewat, who filed a complaint, was elected unopposed. Congress members are protesting in front of the Election Commission headquarters. Protesting Congress leaders alleged that BJP killed democracy to win all three seats in Madhya Pradesh. The BJP complained that Meenakshi Natarajan's criminal case in a Hyderabad court was not mentioned in the nomination paper. With this, the nomination paper was rejected on scrutiny.

The BJP alleged that Meenakshi Natarajan deliberately concealed the fact that she had a criminal case against her in Telangana. Kewat's lawyer said that such information should be included in the manifesto as per the Supreme Court rules. However, Harish Chaudhary, the Congress's Madhya Pradesh in-charge, said there was no such case against Meenakshi Natarajan. He also clarified that she has only received a notice from the court.

In the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly, the BJP has 164 MLAs. The Congress has 64 seats, and the Bharatiya Adivasi Party has one seat. In the current situation, the BJP can win two seats and the Congress one. However, after Meenakshi's nomination was rejected, Mahesh Kewat, who had filed his nomination as the third candidate for the BJP, was elected unopposed.