The Crossbill News Desk
The contest for three Rajya Sabha seats from Madhya Pradesh took an unexpected twist on Tuesday (June 9) after the nomination of Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan was rejected, dealing a setback to the opposition party and potentially strengthening the BJP’s position in the election.
The controversy stemmed from an objection raised by BJP state general secretary Rahul Kothari, who contended that Natarajan had not completely disclosed details of a case in the affidavit accompanying her nomination papers.
The Rajya Sabha polls are being held for three vacancies, for which the BJP has fielded Tarun Chugh, Mahesh Kewat and Rajneesh Agrawal.
The development comes amid indications of unease within the Congress over Natarajan’s candidature.
Senior party leader Naresh Gyanchandani had earlier questioned the leadership’s decision to field her instead of veteran leader Singh, cautioning that the move could trigger dissent among legislators, The Indian Express reported.
“There has been a major oversight in the candidate for Rajya Sabha…there is a risk of cross voting here, if Singh had been renominated, the seat would have been safe,” the leader had said.
Natarajan submitted her nomination papers on Monday. Soon afterwards, Gyanchandani resigned from the party post, saying objections had been raised by the state leadership over a social media post in which he sought to draw the attention of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to concerns surrounding her selection.
“I have regularly tweeted to Rahul Gandhi from time to time in the interest of the party. Yet, after serving the Congress honestly for 37 years, it is painful that a single tweet to Rahul Gandhi was not acceptable to the Madhya Pradesh leadership,” Gyanchandani said.
The remarks allowed the BJP to reinforce its claim that Natarajan’s candidature lacked unanimous support within the state Congress unit.
A former Youth Congress president and ex-general secretary of the party, Natarajan has long been considered part of Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi’s close circle. Within the Congress, she has cultivated a reputation as an organisationally disciplined leader with a relatively clean public image.
The controversy stemmed from an objection raised by BJP state general secretary Rahul Kothari, who contended that Natarajan had not completely disclosed details of a case in the affidavit accompanying her nomination papers.
The Rajya Sabha polls are being held for three vacancies, for which the BJP has fielded Tarun Chugh, Mahesh Kewat and Rajneesh Agrawal.
The development comes amid indications of unease within the Congress over Natarajan’s candidature.
Senior party leader Naresh Gyanchandani had earlier questioned the leadership’s decision to field her instead of veteran leader Singh, cautioning that the move could trigger dissent among legislators, The Indian Express reported.
“There has been a major oversight in the candidate for Rajya Sabha…there is a risk of cross voting here, if Singh had been renominated, the seat would have been safe,” the leader had said.
Natarajan submitted her nomination papers on Monday. Soon afterwards, Gyanchandani resigned from the party post, saying objections had been raised by the state leadership over a social media post in which he sought to draw the attention of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to concerns surrounding her selection.
“I have regularly tweeted to Rahul Gandhi from time to time in the interest of the party. Yet, after serving the Congress honestly for 37 years, it is painful that a single tweet to Rahul Gandhi was not acceptable to the Madhya Pradesh leadership,” Gyanchandani said.
The remarks allowed the BJP to reinforce its claim that Natarajan’s candidature lacked unanimous support within the state Congress unit.
A former Youth Congress president and ex-general secretary of the party, Natarajan has long been considered part of Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi’s close circle. Within the Congress, she has cultivated a reputation as an organisationally disciplined leader with a relatively clean public image.
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