'Seat Theft,' Says Congress as Meenakshi Natarajan's Rajya Sabha Bid Is Shot Down in MP.......

BJP defends rejection, claims affidavit concealed a Hyderabad court notice; party set to sweep all three RS seats unopposed

Saurabh Sharma, Bhopal:

    In a dramatic political flashpoint that has set Madhya Pradesh's corridors of power on fire, the Rajya Sabha nomination of Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan was rejected on Tuesday, effectively shutting the opposition out of the contest for three Upper House seats ahead of polling scheduled for June 18.

    The blow was delivered by Returning Officer and MP Assembly Principal Secretary Arvind Sharma, who upheld objections raised by BJP's RS candidate Mahesh Kewat and party state general secretary Rahul Kothari. The ground: Natarajan had allegedly not disclosed in her election affidavit a case pending before a Hyderabad court, a notice she had reportedly responded to back in October 2025.

    Congress hit back hard. Senior Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha insisted the matter was merely a compensation notice, not a criminal case, and therefore required no disclosure. Natarajan herself held a press conference in Bhopal, pulling no punches. "This is not merely about one Rajya Sabha seat or about me. It is about the manner in which democratic institutions are being used," she said, calling it an act of brazen "seat theft."

    The fallout was swift and chaotic. Over 45 Congress MLAs who had been rounded up in Bhopal and were boarding flights to Bengaluru, to shield themselves from alleged poaching, were called back after the rejection. Former Chief Minister Kamal Nath alleged the ruling party had "crossed all limits of political propriety" and claimed the legislators' flight had been deliberately delayed.

    In Delhi, senior Congress leaders KC Venugopal, Sachin Pilot, Bhupesh Baghel and Jairam Ramesh marched to the Election Commission headquarters to protest. Denied immediate entry, they staged a sit-in outside. "We will sit here until they allow us inside," Venugopal declared. The ECI later agreed to meet a Congress delegation on Wednesday.

    The BJP was unapologetic. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said the concealment was deliberate and that Natarajan's legal team had accepted the facts during the hearing. Senior leader Kailash Vijayvargiya went a step further, claiming the papers exposing the Hyderabad case came from Congress circles themselves in Telangana.

    With the nomination window shut, Congress cannot field a replacement. BJP's three nominees, Tarun Chugh, Rajneesh Agrawal and Mahesh Kewat, are now set for an unopposed walk into the Rajya Sabha. Congress has vowed to fight on through legal and political channels, but for now, it is the BJP that holds all the cards.