All Three BJP Nominees Declared Elected to RS as ECI, SC kept Order on Rejection of Natarajan Nomination Pending
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 11: Even as the controversy over the rejection of the nomination of the Congress candidate for the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh remained stuck between the Election Commission and the Supreme Court, all the three nominees of the BJP were on Thursday declared elected unopposed.
The development to declare all the three BJP candidates, Rajneesh Agrawal, Tarun Chugh and Mahesh Kewat, elected unopposed came after the nomination of Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan was rejected during scrutiny, effectively clearing the path for BJP’s candidates.
Following the completion of the nomination withdrawal process, there were no remaining challengers in the fray, resulting in the three BJP nominees being declared elected without a contest.
The victorious candidates were later issued certificate of election at the Madhya Pradesh Assembly complex. The three candidates displayed their certificates of election after receiving them from the Returning Officer at the state assembly premises.
The political equation for the Rajya Sabha election, originally scheduled for voting on June 18, changed dramatically when Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan’s nomination was rejected by the Returning Officer during the scrutiny process. Returning Officer Arvind Sharma accepted the objection raised by the BJP and declared the nomination invalid. According to the BJP, Natarajan had allegedly failed to disclose details of a pending case in Telangana in her nomination papers which made the filing incomplete and liable for rejection.
Dramatic legal and political challenges by the Congress failed to stop this result. The party approached the court against the poll panel rejecting Natarajan’s nomination. The court, however, opted to defer the hearing till Friday, which left room for the Election Commission to confirm the BJP candidates’ ‘unopposed victory.’
A 10-member Congress delegation had met the EC in Delhi on Wednesday afternoon. But the poll body did not issue a ruling before the election process was to be completed. The Congress had earlier insisted it had the numbers to send Natarajan to the Rajya Sabha. But her nomination was rejected June 9, turning an expected close contest into a one-sided finish.
In the Supreme Court, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi pressed the Congress’ case for an urgent hearing, arguing the deadline for withdrawal of nominations was 3 pm the same day. The EC, however, said it had not received a petition copy and needed time to respond. Singhvi then asked that the results not be declared in the meantime. However, the court noted the law on such issues had already been settled and listed the matter for Friday.
The Congress has strongly opposed the decision, describing the rejection of Natarajan’s nomination as illegal and politically motivated. Party leaders have alleged that the BJP engineered the situation to secure the third Rajya Sabha seat despite not having sufficient numbers to comfortably win all three seats through a direct electoral contest. The controversy has now reached the judicial arena, with the matter scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court on Friday.
The Supreme Court will hear Natarajan’s plea challenging the rejection of her Rajya Sabha nomination papers. Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi mentioned the matter before a bench of Justices PK Mishra and Atul S Chandurkar, describing it as a genuinely urgent case and seeking either an early listing or a one-line interim order. Taking note of the submissions, the Supreme Court listed the matter for hearing on Friday.
