Bhopal: Taking a cue from Rahul Gandhi, the opposition’s floor leader in the Lok Sabha who accused the BJP of stealing a Rajya Sabha seat in cahoots with the Election Commission, the Madhya Pradesh Congress on Saturday escalated its attack on the saffron party over the rejection of nomination of its Rajya Sabha candidate Meenakshi Natarajan. The party alleged an assault on democratic values and called into question the fairness and transparency of the election process.
Congress Leaders Address Media
Addressing a joint news conference in Bhopal, former Congress MLA Ravi Joshi, former minister PC Sharma, the party’s city president Praveen Saxena, rural leaders Manoj Rajani and Anokhi Mansingh Patel accused authorities of adopting a legally flawed interpretation to disqualify the party’s official candidate.
Joshi said the rejection was “not merely injustice against one candidate, but a serious blow to constitutional values, free and fair elections, and democracy itself”. He claimed that the issue has sparked off a nationwide debate on whether electoral procedures were being conducted according to “law or under political pressure”.
Party's Concerns Articulated
The Congress said senior party functionaries, including state chief Jitu Patwari, leader of opposition Umang Singhar, MP in-charge Harish Chaudhary, senior advocate and MP Vivek Tankha, and senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi have already put forward and articulated their concerns on the matter.
Rajani claimed that the private complaint cited while rejecting Natarajan’s nomination did not name her as an accused, but merely as a respondent, adding that both carried different legal implications. He said provisions under Section 33A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and Form-26 were meant for disclosure of criminal cases in which a candidate was formally facing criminal proceedings.
Larger Concerns Raised
Former minister Sharma said the controversy raised larger concerns on whether the EC was strengthening democratic competition or becoming a tool to suppress opposition voices. Describing the matter as one linked to “the spirit of the Constitution and protection of fair elections”, the Congress leaders said the party would continue its fight to safeguard democratic rights and electoral fairness.
