Meenakshi Natarajan hits out at BJP:Calls conspiracy claims bogus, says 3rd candidate was fielded despite shortfall of 10 MLAs

Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan has spoken publicly for the first time since her nomination for the Madhya Pradesh Rajya Sabha election was rejected. Addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan in Hyderabad, she broke her silence and launched sharp attacks on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Election Commission of India (ECI). Natarajan completely rejected claims made by Madhya Pradesh BJP leaders that documents used against her had been supplied to the BJP by Congress leaders themselves. Dismissing the allegation outright, she described it as a “fake conspiracy theory” fabricated by the BJP and said the Congress party remained completely united. According to her, such rumours were being deliberately spread to divert public attention. ‘Cannot escape with fabricated conspiracy theories’ Responding strongly to reports of alleged internal sabotage within Congress, Meenakshi Natarajan said that even if, for argument’s sake, one accepted the theory that Congress leaders had shared documents, it still could not justify the Returning Officer’s allegedly biased conduct. “Our party members did not go and cancel the nomination. The authority that cancelled it was the Returning Officer, who knew very well that this was not a criminal case but merely a legal notice. Then why was the nomination rejected?” she asked. She said those spreading such stories did not possess the authority to reject a nomination. “These bogus narratives cannot be used to defend the conduct of the Returning Officer or the Election Commission. Either they do not understand election procedures, or they were completely compromised,” she alleged. What were the Collector-Commissioner doing in the RO’s room? The Congress leader also made serious allegations regarding the use of government machinery during the scrutiny process. She claimed that several BJP leaders were freely present inside the Returning Officer’s room during scrutiny, while Congress leaders, including a former Chief Minister and the Pradesh Congress Committee chief, were allegedly not being allowed entry. She further alleged that after Congress leaders protested and entered the room, the Collector and Commissioner suddenly arrived there as well. “The law recognises the role of Collectors and Commissioners in Lok Sabha elections, but they have no administrative role in the Rajya Sabha nomination process. What were they doing in the RO’s office?” she questioned. According to Natarajan, the incident indicated that the government machinery was involved at multiple levels and that both Returning Officers were compromised. Despite being 10 MLAs short, filing the third nomination shows their malicious intent Explaining the arithmetic of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, Natarajan said three Rajya Sabha seats were vacant in the state, of which two were clearly expected to go to the BJP. For the third seat, a candidate required the support of 58 MLAs. Congress had 62 MLAs, which was more than enough to secure the seat. She said the party nominated her and that all Congress legislators had come together organically on the first day itself without any mobilisation efforts. Congress submitted four sets of nomination papers, and leaders including Telangana PCC President Mahesh Goud and Maharashtra Congress chief Harshvardhan Sapkal were present, demonstrating complete party unity, she said. Natarajan alleged that the BJP had only 48 MLAs against the required 58 votes for a third seat, yet it fielded a third candidate. According to her, this showed that the BJP intended from the beginning to engineer cross-voting, create fear and attempt political manipulation, as allegedly seen earlier in Haryana and Jharkhand. “When that failed, they conspired with the Election Commission,” she alleged. When there is no column for legal notice in Form 26, why the allegation of hiding information? Speaking about the technical grounds on which her nomination was rejected, Natarajan said there was no criminal case pending against her. She explained that the matter involved only a legal notice at the pre-cognisance stage. Under recent provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, courts issue legal notices before taking cognisance in certain cases so that individuals can present their side, she said. She added that the matter related to a period before she became in charge in 2025 and therefore had no connection to her. Natarajan pointed out that Form 26, the election affidavit, contains no column requiring disclosure of pending legal notices. She said that when the objection was raised and the Returning Officer asked her about it, she voluntarily acknowledged that a legal notice was pending. According to her, senior lawyers Vivek Tankha and Abhishek Manu Singhvi had reviewed her affidavit in full. She also cited the Election Commission’s 2023 handbook, claiming that a Returning Officer does not have the authority during scrutiny to reject a nomination within half an hour and that such disputes are generally addressed through election petitions after the election. She contrasted her case with that of Parimal Nathwani in Jharkhand, who was reportedly given time until 3 pm the following day and whose nomination was not rejected, whereas her nomination was cancelled using provisions from a 2016 rulebook. Collusion between Election Commission, MP Government and BJP exposed Natarajan also accused the Election Commission of deliberately delaying action after her nomination was rejected. She said a high-level Congress delegation, including Randeep Surjewala and Vivek Tankha, met the Election Commission at noon following the rejection. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, she said, flew directly from London and went to the Commission from the airport. According to Natarajan, the Commission had until 3 pm to rectify the situation but did not take any decision until 10 pm, causing delays. As a result, Congress was forced to file an e-petition in the Supreme Court at 1:30 am. She said the Supreme Court dealt with the matter on technical grounds because a certificate had already been issued to the BJP candidate, directing them to pursue an election petition instead. Natarajan further alleged that there was an unusual alignment of legal representation during the court proceedings. She claimed that while senior counsel appeared for the Election Commission and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta represented the candidates, the Madhya Pradesh government—despite not being directly involved—engaged senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi to defend its position. “This clearly shows everyone was working together,” she alleged. Responded to false allegations of character assassination and dragging the family into it When asked why the party had not acted against an accused individual, Natarajan said that as a woman, she and her party stood firmly with the victim. She stated that despite being the leading choice in an election survey, the individual’s ticket had been denied in the difficult 2023 election because the allegations against him were serious. She added that he was removed from the post of District Congress Committee president and was also suspended from the party. Natarajan said that although the individual was now out of jail and attending family and neighbourhood events, the law could not prevent him from doing so because the charges had not yet been proven. However, she stressed that neither she nor the party was defending him and that he was no longer a party member. Attacking the BJP, she said the Constitution treats individuals as separate entities and that it was wrong to target an entire family because of allegations against one person. She added that her sister was married into another family and linking her to the matter was baseless. Natarajan accused the BJP of spreading misinformation in the past as well, citing old rumours involving former President Shankar Dayal Sharma and claims that idols of Lord Ganesha were drinking milk. According to her, such narratives were being spread to divert attention from questions being raised about the Election Commission. ‘After vote and seat, now the game of ‘party theft’ Natarajan said the developments of the last 10 days had validated what Rahul Gandhi had been warning about. “First there was vote theft, then seat theft in mayoral elections, then attempts to grab seats through cross-voting in Haryana and intimidation in Jharkhand. Now they have moved towards party theft because they want to convert democracy into authoritarianism under a ‘One Nation, One Party’ agenda,” she alleged. She said the episode had not demoralised Congress but had instead exposed the alleged collusion between institutions. Speaking about future plans, Natarajan said she belonged to Madhya Pradesh and had every right to represent the state politically. She clarified that neither she nor the Congress party believed in forcing the resignation of an elected representative in Telangana or denying someone else their rightful position in order to secure a Rajya Sabha seat. According to her, the party’s priority would remain Telangana’s own leaders. She announced that she would file an election petition in the Madhya Pradesh High Court within the legally prescribed 45-day period and continue the legal battle against what she described as an injustice.