RS polls in MP, J'khand: Nomination of Congress' Natarajan rejected; BJP-backed Nathwani gets 'time until 11 am'

NEW DELHI/BHOPAL/RANCHI: A Congress delegation is likely to meet the Election Commission of India on Wednesday over the rejection of party candidate Meenakshi Natarajan's nomination for the June 18 Rajya Sabha polls.

The nomination was rejected "on charges of concealing information about a case in the affidavit".

A complaint was submitted by BJP candidate Mahesh Kewat, contesting the third Rajya Sabha seat.


Earlier, AICC accused ECI of not granting a meeting to a party delegation to complain about the rejection of nomination and said it would consider moving court. "At 7.25 PM, we gave a letter to the Election Commission of India for an appointment with the election commissioner for giving a complaint. Even after 40 minutes, ECI is not allowing us to go inside. What is happening in this country? Is this a banana republic? We will go to court... See what is happening in Madhya Pradesh. Without any reason, they have cancelled the nomination of our candidate," said AICC general secretary (org) KC Venugopal as Congress leaders protested in front of the ECI office, before the latter scheduled a meeting for Wednesday noon.

In Jharkhand, Congress alleged discrepancies in the nomination papers of Parimal Nathwani, BJP-backed independent nominee for the Rajya Sabha polls, and lodged a complaint with the returning officer. A purported letter from the Jharkhand assembly secretariat to the independent candidate stated that his nomination has been put on hold until 11 am on Wednesday.