Congress party's Meenakshi Natarajan's Rajya Sabha nomination cancelled amid affidavit row
With the rejection of Congress candidate's nomination, the BJP is set to win all three seats from Madhya Pradesh. This is seen as a first major setback for Congress and especially Rahul Gandhi.
Congress Rajya Sabha nominee Meenakshi Natarajan's candidature from Madhya Pradesh was rejected after election authorities accepted objections alleging she failed to disclose details of a Telangana court matter in her nomination affidavit.
The development came after BJP had lodged a formal objection before the Returning Officer, seeking cancellation of Natarajan's candidature.
The BJP leaders alleged that the Congress leader had failed to disclose details of a pending court case in Telangana in her election affidavit, a mandatory document that candidates are required to submit while filing nominations.
The Congress, however, strongly contested the objection and termed it baseless. Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar and other party leaders maintained that Natarajan does not face any criminal case and therefore had no requirement to disclose the matter cited by the BJP.
According to the Congress, the Telangana matter relates only to a court notice and not to a formally registered criminal case. The party argued that Election Commission guidelines require candidates to disclose criminal cases that have been officially registered and are pending before courts, not routine legal notices.
"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," tweeted Vivek Tankha, Member of Rajya Sabha.
Voting for three Rajya Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh is scheduled to take place on June 18.
In the 230-member Assembly, the BJP has 164 MLAs, enough to comfortably secure two seats while still retaining 48 surplus votes. To win the third seat, however, the party would have needed cross-voting or support of 10 more from other parties.
The Congress has 63 MLAs, but two legislators, Rajendra Bharti and Mukesh Malhotra, are not eligible to vote in the Rajya Sabha election, reducing its effective strength to 61.
As a result, the contest for the third seat had emerged as a politically significant battle. Some Congress MLAs were shifted outside state too.
Election authorities found that Natarajan had not disclosed details of the pending case in the affidavit submitted with her nomination papers. Citing non-compliance with provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the Returning Officer rejected her nomination, significantly altering the equation for the Rajya Sabha election in the state.
The forthcoming Rajya Sabha elections in some states would be interesting and is being closely followed as the BJP is trying to increase its tally.
The Lotus party has got a major boost in Lok Sabha with 20 rebel TMC MPs under the stewardship of Dr Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar have decided to back the NDA.
It is likely, the DMK, which has abandoned Congress-led INDI-alliance may also extend issue and legislative based support to the BJP-led ruling combine. There is already speculation that the Govt may soon push the Delimitation and Women's Quota which were stalled by opposition parties in April this year.
 |
| Blogger |
No comments:
Post a Comment