‘No Criminal Case Exists’: Congress’ Singhvi Defends Meenakshi Natarajan Over Rajya Sabha Rejection

A Congress delegation on Wednesday met the Election Commission over the rejection of senior party leader Meenakshi Natarajan’s nomination for the June 18 Rajya Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh.

Addressing a press conference after the meeting, senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi questioned the basis on which Natarajan’s candidature had been rejected.

VIDEO | Congress leaders meet Election Commission over rejection of Meenakshi Natarajan’s Rajya Sabha election nomination. Party leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi, addressing a press conference, says, “The basis of the rejection was a misconception that there is some criminal case… pic.twitter.com/CEzdz3KCYY

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 10, 2026

“The basis of the rejection was a misconception that there is some criminal case pending against her which she did not disclose in her form. The irony is that there is no criminal case that actually exists in law, that is established, that she could have disclosed,” Singhvi said.

Natarajan’s nomination was rejected during scrutiny by Returning Officer Arvind Sharma after the BJP objected to her affidavit, alleging concealment of information linked to a court matter in Hyderabad.

BJP Objected Over Hyderabad Court Complaint

The BJP’s objection was filed by state general secretary Rahul Kothari, who alleged that Natarajan had failed to disclose details relating to a private complaint pending before a Hyderabad court.

The matter traces back to a 2022 criminal case registered in Telangana following allegations made by a former associate of a senior Congress politician.

While Natarajan was not named in the original criminal case, her name later appeared in a private complaint filed in August 2025. The complainant alleged that Congress office-bearers and leaders failed to act despite repeated complaints against the principal accused.

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By that time, Natarajan had become the Congress’s Telangana in-charge. According to the complaint, she had allegedly informed the complainant that the accused had already been suspended from the party.

The complaint does not accuse Natarajan of involvement in the underlying criminal allegations but seeks to hold her accountable for alleged organisational inaction.

Congress Says No FIR Was Filed

The Congress maintained that the matter cited by the BJP did not amount to a criminal case requiring disclosure in the nomination affidavit.

Senior Congress leader and lawyer Vivek Tankha said only a legal notice had been issued and no FIR had been filed against Natarajan.

Natarajan had also submitted a detailed response before the Hyderabad court in October 2025, denying wrongdoing and arguing that she had been unnecessarily dragged into the dispute.

However, the Returning Officer rejected her nomination, stating in his order that she had “submitted an incomplete affidavit in Form 26 and concealed material facts” related to the court proceedings.

Congress Protests, Calls It ‘Seat Theft’

The rejection triggered strong protests from the Congress, including a sit-in demonstration outside the Election Commission office led by party general secretary K C Venugopal.

After her nomination was rejected, Natarajan accused the BJP of engaging in “the politics of muzzling the democracy, constitution” to ensure victory in all three Rajya Sabha seats from Madhya Pradesh.

“What was limited to vote theft, has now become seat theft,” she said.

With Natarajan’s candidature cancelled, the electoral contest for the three Rajya Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh has effectively been reduced to three BJP candidates.

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