Rajya Sabha polls: Congress candidate from Madhya Pradesh Meenakshi Natarajan’s nomination rejected

The nomination of Meenakshi Natarajan, Congress candidate for one of three Rajya Sabha seats from Madhya Pradesh, has been rejected by the returning officer on Tuesday (June 9, 2026) for allegedly not disclosing a pending case in Telangana.

The returning officer had issued a notice to Ms. Natarajan based on an objection raised by BJP candidate Mahesh Kewat, Advocate Sanket Gupta, representing the BJP, said. The Returning Officer’s decision came after hearing arguments from both sides.

Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal led a delegation to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to represent Meenakshi Natarajan’s case. The delegation was not allowed inside and the ECI didn’t give time.

Following this, senior Congress leaders, including Mr. Venugopal, Sachin Pilot and Bhupesh Baghel sat on a dharna outside the ECI. Rajya Sabha member and Congress leader Vivek Tankha said this is not a case of “vote chori” (vote theft) but “seat chori” (seat theft).

Congress delegation, led by K.C. Venugopal, sitting on a protest outside the Election Commission of India on June 9, 2026. Picture: Special Arrangement

Also, Mr. Pilot told reporters that “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? The seat which we were winning, our nomination was cancelled. There is no one to listen to us. We will go to court… We feel there is a conspiracy, the ECI will have to investigate,” Mr. Pilot said.

Madhya Pradesh Cabinet Ministers Rakesh Singh and Kailash Vijayvargiya, former state BJP president V.D. Sharma, candidate Mahesh Kewat and multiple MLAs and leaders were present at the Assembly House during the proceedings and celebrated after Ms. Natarajan’s nomination was cancelled.

Mr. Singh said, “She had deliberately hidden this case in the information provided by her. The form was incomplete. She had given wrong details. On all those issues, a proper opportunity was given and both sides put forth their arguments. But since, there were serious errors in her form and the case lodged in Telangana had been hidden deliberately. So on this basis, the returning officer rejected her form.”

Congress Rajya Sabha MP and senior lawyer Vivek Tankha said that no criminal case was registered against Ms. Natarajan and that only a notice was issued and that she had responded to it.

“Confusion is being spread regarding Meenakshi Natarajan’s nomination. No criminal case has been registered. Only a notice has been received stating why proceedings for 10 crore compensation should not be initiated against her and other people. Meenakshi ji’s lawyer has responded to this notice. No FIR has been filed,” Mr. Tankha said on X.

Congress’s Madhya Pradesh in-charge, Harish Chaudhary, however, claimed that no case had been filed against Ms. Natarajan and that the BJP is bringing up such cases to harass her.

He said Ms. Natarajan had received a show-cause notice from the court, and it was not necessary to mention it in the affidavit.

He said the Election Commission of India’s instructions are clear that information must be provided in the nomination when a case is filed, not upon receiving a notice. “Technically, Natarajan’s nomination cannot be rejected,” Mr. Chaudhary added.

(With PTI inputs)