Meenakshi Natarajan Declines Rajya Sabha Nomination from Telangana, Asserts Madhya Pradesh Origin

Hyderabad: In a decisive statement at Gandhi Bhavan on Sunday, Meenakshi Natarajan, the AICC in-charge for Telangana affairs, unequivocally ruled out accepting a Rajya Sabha nomination from Telangana, asserting that any Upper House seat should be offered to her from Madhya Pradesh, her political home state.

The Congress leader addressed the media following her Rajya Sabha nomination being rejected, with TPCC president Mahesh Kumar Gould and AICC Secretary Sachin Sawant present alongside her.

Natarajan emphasised that there was neither any necessity for her to resign nor any political restructuring required to accommodate her within Telangana. She reiterated her position that a Rajya Sabha berth, should one materialise, ought to come from Madhya Pradesh where her political roots lie.

During the press conference, Natarajan levelled accusations against the Bharatiya Janata Party, claiming it had orchestrated the circumstances leading to her nomination's rejection. She contended that after realising cross-voting would not succeed in the Madhya Pradesh Rajya Sabha election, the BJP acted to thwart her candidature.

The Congress leader questioned why she was not afforded the opportunity to amend her nomination documents. She pointed to the example of independent candidate Parimal Nathwani from Jharkhand, who was permitted 24 hours to make corrections under the 2023 rulebook provisions.

Natarajan maintained that her nomination was rejected based on a case entirely unrelated to her. She disclosed that she had received a legal notice stemming from a complaint lodged by a private party, arguing that a legal notice should not be construed as equivalent to a criminal case.

She further asserted that both the BJP and the Election Commission had acted in ways detrimental to her nomination prospects. Natarajan characterised her rejection not as a straightforward consequence of a pending legal matter, but rather as a result of what she termed a collusion between the BJP and electoral authorities.

The Congress leader also noted that securing a Rajya Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh required only 58 votes and claimed the BJP was cognisant of the Congress party's electoral strength. She connected these developments to a wider political strategy, drawing a link to the BJP's "One Nation, One Election" initiative.