Rajya Sabha Polls: Rejection of Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan's nomination sparks row — what we know so far

Published 9 June 2026 · politics

In a dramatic turn of events, the nomination of the Congress's Rajya Sabha candidate from Madhya Pradesh, Meenakshi Natarajan, was rejected on Tuesday, on charges

In a dramatic turn of events, the nomination of the Congress's Rajya Sabha candidate from Madhya Pradesh, Meenakshi Natarajan, was rejected on Tuesday, on charges of concealing information about a case in the affidavit. "Natarajan's nomination has been rejected by the Returning Officer on the grounds of hiding information about a case," an MP Assembly official told PTI. However, Congress leaders denied the allegation, with Lok Sabha MP KC Venugopal saying it is a complete humbug and a desperate attempt to snatch a seat from the INC. Following the rejection of her nomination, Congress leader Meenakshi Natarajan accused the BJP of “doing the politics of muzzling the democracy, the Constitution.” “When the number of members was not adequate, and the BJP fielded a third candidate, it all started from there, and we started to understand that they are doing the politics of muzzling the democracy, the constitution," she said. "What was limited to vote theft has now become seat theft... When they felt this was a united house and not a divided house, then, in the guise of a legal notice, which was not taken cognisance of, they challenged the election petition; both advocates presented their arguments, which were not heard, and the decision came. Their intention has become clear. This is not about one candidature, there is a serious situation in the country.

We will challenge this...," she alleged. Congress leaders protest Several Congress leaders, including the party's general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, reached the office of the Election Commission of India against the cancellation of the nomination of Meenakshi Natarajan for the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh. “Jairam Ramesh is not being allowed to enter,” news agency ANI reported, while sharing a video from the spot. Lok Sabha MP KC Venugopal called the rejection a "blatant attempt by the BJP to destroy the democratic process in a clandestine manner." In a post on X, Venugopal said, "The allegation of any error or non-disclosure in her nomination is complete humbug and a desperate attempt to snatch a seat from the INC." "They stooped so low as to reject her nomination when they realised that their dirty tricks to compromise our INC MLAs is going to fail," Venugopal wrote on X. "This shows the BJP’s hollow commitment to the Constitution and democracy. At every step of the way, they are hell-bent on Vote Chori - one way or another," Venugopal said. "We will not take this daylight robbery of democracy lying down, and will fight this legally as well as politically on the streets tooth-and-nail," the Congress leader added. Meanwhile, Congress leader Sachin Pilot said, “Never in the democratic history of the country, a nomination paper was rejected without stating the reason, there is no FIR, chargesheet against our candidate.” "But it was done deliberately, we asked for time, we came here to file the application, they are not allowing us inside, the ECI is not meeting us, whom we will complain?