A dramatic day of political developments in Madhya Pradesh’s capital Bhopal, that began with several Congress MLAs heading to the airport to leave for Bengaluru, ended with the nomination of Meenakshi Natarajan, the party candidate for one of three Rajya Sabha seats from the State, being rejected during scrutiny.
This prompted top Congress leaders, led by its national general secretary K.C. Venugopal, to stage a sit-in outside the Election Commission of India (ECI)’s office in New Delhi.
The rejection came at a time when a batch of Congress MLAs was en route to Bengaluru amid fears of cross- voting in the polls, prompting the State leaders to ask them to return to Bhopal.
Ms. Natarajan accused the BJP of having “moved from vote theft to seat theft”.
After Meenakshi Natarajan’s nomination rejection, Congress delegation turns away by EC
“It started when the BJP fielded a third candidate despite not having the adequate number of members, and we started to understand the kind of politics it is practising with democracy and the Constitution. What was limited to vote theft through SIR (Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls) and other methods has today reached (the stage of) seat theft,” she said, at a press conference late on Tuesday with senior State party leaders.
Ms. Natarajan’s nomination was rejected by Assembly Secretary Arvind Sharma, who is also the Returning Officer for the election, based on an objection raised by BJP candidate for the third seat Mahesh Kewat and State party general secretary Rahul Kothari. They alleged that Ms. Natarajan had “hidden” details of a case lodged against her in Telangana’s Hyderabad.
The objection led to chaotic scenes at the Assembly Secretariat in Bhopal, with dozens of Congress and BJP workers coming face to face and engaging in arguments.
Several senior State BJP leaders and MLAs, including Cabinet Ministers Rakesh Singh and Kailash Vijayvargiya, as well as Mr. Kewat remained in the Assembly Secretariat during the proceedings and celebrated after the Returning Officer ruled against Ms. Natarajan.
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, the Returning Officer rejected her form.”
The case pertains to a private complaint against various individuals, including Ms. Natarajan, under BNS Sections 356, 351(2), 61, 45, 46, and 79. The Congress, however, has maintained that this was not a criminal case and only a notice had been issued to Ms. Natarajan to which she had responded.
Congress Rajya Sabha MP and senior lawyer Vivek Tankha said on X, “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.”
Ms. Natarajan alleged that the BJP challenged her nomination “in the guise of a legal notice” after it realised that the Congress MLAs were united.
“When they felt this was a united house, then in the guise of a legal notice, which was not even taken into cognisance, they challenged the election petition. Our lawyers presented the arguments, but they were not even properly heard or considered, and the decision was delivered. Their intention has become clear,” she said.
“The question is whether the federal structure of India and the democracy will survive or not. Will attempts to bring a one-party system and dictatorship here be destroyed or not? We will challenge this before every democratic forum,” she added.
Late in the evening, a Congress delegation, comprising Mr. Venugopal, Sachin Pilot and Bhupesh Baghel, arrived outside the ECI’s office but were not allowed in.
“This is a basic matter of democracy. We will sit here until they allow us to go inside. We are very responsible people. Former Chief Ministers, Deputy Chief Ministers and MPs are here,” Mr. Venugopal told reporters.
The ECI has scheduled a meeting with the party’s delegation at noon on Wednesday.
Later in the evening, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav alleged that Congress leaders had hidden the information about the case involving Ms. Natarajan “as part of a conspiracy”.
“This matter was in their knowledge. When the Returning Officer put forth the information in front of them during the hearing today, they accepted it. This means they had deliberately kept the Returning Officer in the dark. The decision has come on that basis. I welcome the process of scrutiny,” Mr. Yadav said, while alleging that the Congress feared defeat.
He said that raising the objection was part of the democratic process.
Earlier in the day, more than 45 Congress MLAs gathered at the residence of Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar before proceeding to Bhopal airport to board a special flight to Bengaluru. However, they had to wait for more than four hours before the first plane took off with one batch of MLAs and their family members. They alleged that the airport authorities and the air traffic control officials were not giving the take off permission.
Several Opposition legislators also alleged that they were “being approached on behalf of the ruling party with lucrative offers” with MLA Babu Jandel claiming that he had received an “offer of ₹10 crore through a businessman”.
While the BJP is safely poised to win two of the three Rajya Sabha seats, it has 48 MLA votes to spare after that. Mr. Kewat’s candidature was announced late on Sunday after several rounds of deliberations, as the party is 10 short of the minimum required votes to win one seat. The Congress has 62 valid votes in the Assembly.
Two BJP candidates who are comfortably positioned to win are national general secretary Tarun Chug and State unit secretary Rajneesh Agrawal.
Published – June 09, 2026 07:58 pm IST
