A significant political controversy has emerged in Madhya Pradesh ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections as Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan's nomination was rejected due to alleged non-disclosure of a court complaint in her affidavit, a development that complicates the Congress's already precarious position against the BJP's unexpected third candidate. Returning Officer Arvind Sharma cited an incomplete affidavit, specifically the failure to disclose a court complaint in Form 26, a move reportedly prompted by a complaint from BJP candidate Mahesh Kewat regarding a case registered against Natarajan in Telangana. This situation has fueled speculation about how the BJP obtained the documents, with senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya suggesting they came from within the Congress, and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana pointing to potential internal factionalism, as Natarajan had reportedly opposed certain initiatives of the Telangana Chief Minister. The Congress has decried the rejection as a "murder of democracy" and a "seat theft," vowing to challenge the decision legally.

A significant political controversy has emerged in Madhya Pradesh ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections as Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan's nomination was rejected due to alleged non-disclosure of a court complaint in her affidavit, a development that complicates the Congress's already precarious position against the BJP's unexpected third candidate. Returning Officer Arvind Sharma cited an incomplete affidavit, specifically the failure to disclose a court complaint in Form 26, a move reportedly prompted by a complaint from BJP candidate Mahesh Kewat regarding a case registered against Natarajan in Telangana. This situation has fueled speculation about how the BJP obtained the documents, with senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya suggesting they came from within the Congress, and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana pointing to potential internal factionalism, as Natarajan had reportedly opposed certain initiatives of the Telangana Chief Minister. The Congress has decried the rejection as a "murder of democracy" and a "seat theft," vowing to challenge the decision legally.

A significant political controversy has emerged in Madhya Pradesh ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections as Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan's nomination was rejected due to alleged non-disclosure of a court complaint in her affidavit, a development that complicates the Congress's already precarious position against the BJP's unexpected third candidate. Returning Officer Arvind Sharma cited an incomplete affidavit, specifically the failure to disclose a court complaint in Form 26, a move reportedly prompted by a complaint from BJP candidate Mahesh Kewat regarding a case registered against Natarajan in Telangana. This situation has fueled speculation about how the BJP obtained the documents, with senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya suggesting they came from within the Congress, and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana pointing to potential internal factionalism, as Natarajan had reportedly opposed certain initiatives of the Telangana Chief Minister. The Congress has decried the rejection as a "murder of democracy" and a "seat theft," vowing to challenge the decision legally.

A major political controversy has erupted in Madhya Pradesh ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections after Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan had her nomination rejected for allegedly concealing information about a court complaint in her affidavit.

The setback comes at a crucial time for the Congress, which is already battling concerns over cross-voting and has shifted its MLAs to Bengaluru after the BJP fielded a surprise third candidate despite having the numbers to comfortably secure only two seats.

Returning Officer Arvind Sharma said Natarajan submitted an incomplete affidavit by failing to disclose a court complaint in Form 26 filed along with her nomination papers.

According to reports, BJP candidate Mahesh Kewat had lodged a complaint with the Returning Officer, alleging that Natarajan had not mentioned details of a case registered against her in Telangana.

The controversy has now sparked speculation over how the BJP obtained documents related to the case, with indications of possible infighting within the Congress.

Senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya claimed that Congress leaders from Telangana had supplied the relevant documents.

"As for the documents we received—who gave them to us? You can understand the state the Congress is in," Vijayvargiya told reporters in Bhopal.

"The point is, we were receiving documents related to Telangana, a state where they are in power. We didn't have any information ourselves; it must have been Congress members who provided it," he added.

The Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana has also suggested that internal factionalism within the Congress may have led to the leak. The party noted that Natarajan, who serves as the Congress in-charge for Telangana, had reportedly opposed several flagship initiatives of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy.

A BRS leader told NDTV that Natarajan had previously questioned projects such as the Musi River beautification programme and other controversial government decisions, allegedly causing embarrassment to the Telangana administration.

Meanwhile, the Congress has described the rejection of Natarajan's nomination as a "murder of democracy" and alleged that the issue has gone beyond "vote theft" to "seat theft". The party staged a protest outside the Election Commission office in Bhopal and has vowed to challenge the Returning Officer's decision in court.

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