Daijiworld Media Network – Bhopal
Bhopal, Jun 11: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured all three Rajya Sabha seats from Madhya Pradesh after its candidates were elected unopposed following the rejection of the Congress nominee's nomination papers.
BJP candidates Rajneesh Agrawal, Tarun Chugh and Mahesh Kewat were declared elected after no other valid candidates remained in the contest following the withdrawal process.
The three leaders later received their certificates of election from the Returning Officer at the Madhya Pradesh Assembly complex and posed with the certificates after the formal declaration.
The political equation for the Rajya Sabha election, originally scheduled for voting on Jun 18, changed significantly when the nomination of Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan was rejected during scrutiny.
Returning Officer Arvind Sharma accepted an objection raised by the BJP and declared Natarajan's nomination invalid. According to the BJP, the Congress leader had failed to disclose details of a pending case in Telangana in her nomination papers, making the filing incomplete and liable for rejection.
The Congress strongly opposed the decision, describing the rejection as illegal and politically motivated. Party leaders alleged that the BJP engineered the situation to secure the third Rajya Sabha seat without facing an electoral contest.
The dispute has now reached the Supreme Court of India, which is scheduled to hear Natarajan's petition challenging the rejection of her nomination on Jun 12.
Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi mentioned the matter before a bench comprising Justices PK Mishra and Atul S Chandurkar, seeking urgent intervention.
Arguing against the Returning Officer's decision, Singhvi told the court that only a summons had been issued in the Telangana case and that no cognisance had been taken by the court.
“Only a summons was issued, not even a cognisance of the case. The Returning Officer disqualifies her,” Singhvi submitted.
Taking note of the submissions, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the matter on Friday, even as the BJP's three candidates have already been declared elected unopposed.