Ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections scheduled for June 18, the Congress has moved its Madhya Pradesh MLAs to Bengaluru amid concerns over possible cross-voting and poaching attempts after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fielded a surprise third candidate.
"Given the Rajya Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh, MLAs are being brought here. We will not allow others to steal our votes. We are securing our votes. We have come here to keep our own party members together," Congress leader H. C. Balakrishna said.
The decision to shift the MLAs was taken during a Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting held on Monday night at the residence of Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar. Around 60 legislators attended the meeting, which followed a recommendation from the party's central leadership.
Meanwhile, the political battle intensified on Tuesday after Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan had her nomination rejected for allegedly concealing information in her affidavit. Rajya Sabha election Returning Officer Arvind Sharma said Natarajan submitted an incomplete affidavit by failing to disclose a court complaint in Form 26 accompanying her nomination papers.
Describing the rejection as a "murder of democracy", the Congress alleged that the issue had moved beyond "vote theft" to "seat theft" and vowed to challenge the decision in court. The party also staged a protest outside the Election Commission office in Bhopal.
The Congress has not yet clarified whether it will challenge the nomination rejection in the Madhya Pradesh High Court or move the Supreme Court directly. Senior advocate and Congress Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha has suggested that the party approach the Supreme Court directly, according to PTI.
The June 18 election will fill three Rajya Sabha seats from Madhya Pradesh, with each candidate requiring 58 first-preference votes to secure victory.
In the 230-member Assembly, the Congress has 64 MLAs, although one legislator is ineligible to vote following a Supreme Court order. The party is also facing uncertainty over Sagar MLA Nirmala Sapre, who has skipped recent CLP meetings and has been seen sharing platforms with BJP leaders.
The BJP, which holds 164 MLAs in the Assembly, is comfortably placed to win two seats and has fielded Tarun Chugh and Rajneesh Agrawal as its candidates. For the third seat, the party has nominated Mahesh Kewat, a move that has significantly altered the electoral arithmetic.
Even with the support of Sapre and BAP MLA Kamlesh Dodiyar, the BJP may still require eight additional votes to secure the third seat, making cross-voting a crucial factor in the contest.
Kewat's unexpected candidature has heightened competition for the final seat and fuelled fears of poaching within the Congress camp.
Speaking to reporters, Natarajan alleged that despite lacking sufficient numbers in the Assembly to comfortably secure a third seat, the BJP proceeded with its strategy in an attempt to "crush democracy and the Constitution."
"Until now, the issue was limited to vote theft, but now it has become a case of seat theft. When they realised Congress MLAs were united, they resorted to the legal notice issue," she said.
