Bhopal:
Senior Congress leader Meenakshi Natarajan and her party are preparing to shift the controversy over the rejection of her Rajya Sabha nomination from the political arena to the courtroom.
Weeks after her nomination was controversially rejected ahead of the polls, the former MP has questioned the Election Commission’s role, saying the cancellation was not the result of any mistake by Congress leaders, lawyers or those who filled out the nomination papers, but a legally flawed decision. She said the poll body’s move will be challenged in the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
Natarajan said a deliberate narrative was created to shield the Election Commission by suggesting that the nomination was rejected because of negligence within the Congress.
She said the Congress would file an election petition within the stipulated time and challenge the entire process in the court.
According to Natarajan, the very basis on which her nomination was rejected was untenable. The Returning Officer had cited non-disclosure of information related to a pending case. However, she argued that Form-26, which candidates are required to file with their nomination papers, does not contain any specific column requiring disclosure of such a matter.
She also rejected suggestions that the Congress itself was responsible for the lapse.
Natarajan said she has contested several elections and that senior legal experts in the party have handled nomination papers for years. According to her, they couldn’t make such mistakes.
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She alleged that blaming Congress leaders was a “calculated narrative” created only to divert attention from the Election Commission’s role.
The former MP also accused the Election Commission of applying different yardsticks in similar situations. She referred to the case of Rajya Sabha candidate Parimal Nathwani in Jharkhand, claiming he was given 24 hours to rectify his nomination papers, but she didn’t get such an opportunity.
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According to Natarajan, this showed that the Election Commission did not follow a consistent standard in similar cases.
Congress sources said the party’s legal cell is preparing the election petition under the supervision of senior lawyers. The matter had earlier reached the Election Commission and then the Supreme Court, but the next battle will now be fought in the High Court through the legal route available after the election process.
The Congress has also alleged that the Election Commission did not act as an impartial body in the matter. The party’s leaders claim senior Congress leaders and lawyers had reached the poll body on time to present their case, but it delayed the proceedings.
They said the Election Commission could have overturned the Returning Officer’s order had it chosen to intervene, but its failure to do so has raised serious questions over its impartiality.
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BJP Slams Congress
The BJP, however, has dismissed the Congress charge. BJP state spokesperson Ajay Yadav said the rejection of Natarajan’s nomination was the result of internal conflict within the Congress.
“This is the result of internal infighting within the Congress. Meenakshi has now been sidelined. She has been left isolated,” Yadav said.
He added, “Meenakshi and the Congress ought to do some introspection now.”
