The Election Commission (EC) has cancelled the nomination of Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan for the Rajya Sabha election in Madhya Pradesh, amid allegations of concealment of facts and discrepancies in her nomination papers.
The cancellation came after BJP leader Rahul Kothari lodged a complaint alleging that Natarajan had concealed information about a court summons issued in a 2022 rape case filed against a Congress leader in Telangana.
The returning officer scrutinised the papers and cancelled her candidature, citing the directives of the Election Commission of India.
The Congress has strongly protested the decision, with KC Venugopal, general secretary, AICC, calling it a 'daylight robbery of democracy' and vowing to fight it legally and politically.
The cancellation has given the BJP a comfortable lead in the Rajya Sabha elections, with the party comfortably placed to win two seats in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly.
