Rajya Sabha polls: Congress candidate from Madhya Pradesh Meenakshi Natarajan’s nomination rejected

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Congress leader Meenakshi Natarajan, along with Madhya Pradesh unit chief Jitu Patwari and other leaders, addresses a press conference after her nomination for the Rajya Sabha polls was rejected on June 9, 2026. | Photo Credit: A.M. Faruqui

The nomination of Meenakshi Natarajan, Congress candidate for one of three Rajya Sabha seats from Madhya Pradesh, has been rejected by the returning officer on Tuesday (June 9, 2026) for allegedly not disclosing a pending case in Telangana.

The returning officer had issued a notice to Ms. Natarajan based on an objection raised by BJP candidate Mahesh Kewat, Advocate Sanket Gupta, representing the BJP, said. The Returning Officer’s decision came after hearing arguments from both sides.

Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal led a delegation to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to represent Meenakshi Natarajan’s case. The delegation was not allowed inside and the ECI didn’t give time.

Following this, senior Congress leaders, including Mr. Venugopal, Sachin Pilot and Bhupesh Baghel sat on a dharna outside the ECI. Rajya Sabha member and Congress leader Vivek Tankha said this is not a case of “vote chori” (vote theft) but “seat chori” (seat theft).

Congress delegation, led by K.C. Venugopal, sitting on a protest outside the Election Commission of India on June 9, 2026. Picture: Special Arrangement

Also, Mr. Pilot told reporters that “never in the democratic history of the country, a nomination paper was rejected without stating the reason”.

“There is no FIR, chargesheet against our candidate. But it was done deliberately, we asked for time, we came here to file the application, they are not allowing us inside, the ECI is not meeting us, whom we will complain? The seat which we were winning, our nomination was cancelled. There is no one to listen to us. We will go to court... We feel there is a conspiracy, the ECI will have to investigate,” Mr. Pilot said.

Madhya Pradesh Cabinet Ministers Rakesh Singh and Kailash Vija