A former senior Madhya Pradesh Assembly official has come out in support of Congress leader Meenakshi Natarajan, claiming that her Rajya Sabha nomination was wrongly rejected as there was no FIR, chargesheet or criminal case requiring disclosure in her election affidavit.
Speaking to PTI Videos on Thursday, former Madhya Pradesh Assembly Principal Secretary Bhagwandev Israni said Natarajan had not concealed any information that warranted cancellation of her candidature and alleged that she was not given a fair opportunity to clarify the issue.
The controversy erupted after Natarajan’s nomination for the June 18 Rajya Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh was rejected during scrutiny on Tuesday. The Returning Officer, Arvind Sharma, held that her affidavit was incomplete because it did not mention a court complaint allegedly filed against her in Telangana.
The objection was raised by BJP candidate Mahesh Kewat, who alleged that Natarajan had failed to disclose details of the Telangana case in Form 26 submitted with her nomination papers.
However, Israni maintained that the legal requirement for disclosure did not apply in Natarajan’s case.
“I don’t think any information had been concealed,” he said.
Referring to Section 33A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, Israni explained that candidates are required to disclose pending criminal cases only when charges have been formally framed by a competent court for offences punishable with imprisonment of two years or more.
“But this is not the case in this matter. No criminal case has been filed yet, nor has an FIR been registered, and a chargesheet has also not been filed. Therefore, there was no need to provide any information,” he claimed.
Drawing a comparison with a similar case in Jharkhand, Israni said authorities there had allowed the candidate to submit a second affidavit and granted additional time to rectify the issue.
“In this case, that opportunity was not given to Natarajan,” he said.
The former official also urged the Election Commission to intervene, arguing that courts generally refrain from interfering once the electoral process is underway.
“I think the Election Commission should intervene. Courts usually do not interfere after the election process begins,” he said.
Israni noted that Congress leaders had already approached the Election Commission but no decision had been taken so far.
Reflecting on his four-decade-long administrative career, he said he had overseen numerous elections without rejecting a single nomination.
“Our notebook also says — give a chance and ignore minor mistakes. But she was not given a chance,” he remarked.
Meanwhile, all three BJP candidates — Tarun Chugh, Rajneesh Agrawal and Mahesh Kewat — were declared elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha on Thursday following the rejection of Natarajan’s nomination.
The legal battle is set to continue, with a partial working day bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday questioning the maintainability of Natarajan’s petition during the ongoing electoral process. The matter is expected to come up for further hearing on Friday.
The dispute has intensified political tensions in Madhya Pradesh, with the Congress alleging that the rejection of its candidate’s nomination undermined democratic principles and denied the party a fair contest for the third Rajya Sabha seat.
