The Congress's chances of winning the third Rajya Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh took a hit after Meenakshi Natarajan's nomination was rejected on a complaint filed by BJP candidate Mahesh Kevat.
Natarajan, a close aide of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, had been part of the party's organisational setup and served as a president of the Youth Congress and a Congress general secretary.
The rejection was based on alleged non-disclosure of information related to a case in her affidavit, according to an MP assembly official speaking to news agency PTI.
The Congress has strongly denied the charges and called the rejection politically motivated, with Natarajan alleging that the BJP was "muzzling democracy and the Constitution" and accused the party of attempting to undermine a united opposition.
Congress leaders KC Venugopal, Sachin Pilot, and Jairam Ramesh reached the Election Commission in Delhi to file a complaint against the rejection.
The Congress's Madhya Pradesh in-charge Harish Chaudhary said no criminal case has been filed against Natarajan, and therefore the rejection is not valid.
