Meenakshi Natarajan vows battle after SC refuses relief in Rajya Sabha nomination row, says, 'Will continue to fight'

The apex court refused to interfere with the Returning Officer's decision to reject Natarajan's nomination over the alleged non-disclosure of a criminal case in Telangana. 

Congress leader Meenakshi Natarajan on Friday said she would continue her fight for justice after the Supreme Court declined to intervene in the rejection of her nomination for the Rajya Sabha elections from Madhya Pradesh. The apex court refused to interfere with the Returning Officer's decision to reject Natarajan's nomination over the alleged non-disclosure of a criminal case in Telangana. The court observed that an aggrieved candidate has a statutory remedy before the Election Commission once a nomination paper is rejected and granted her liberty to approach the poll body.

Reacting to the verdict, Natarajan said the Congress would continue its battle through democratic means.

“We will continue to fight. In a democracy, there is another court which is of the public; we will take our fight there,” she told IANS.

While refraining from commenting directly on the Supreme Court's ruling, she criticised the Election Commission for not acting on her complaint.

“We approached the Election Commission, but it did not take any decision, even after 48 hours, it has maintained silence,” she said.

Addressing reporters later, Natarajan said the party would decide its next course of action after consultations with senior leaders.

“We will take our next step according to what the senior leaders of the party decide. We will keep fighting our battle across forums. Even though our plea has been dismissed, we are free to take our fight to the people,” she said.

The Congress leader maintained that neither she nor her party was discouraged by the court's decision.

“We are not disappointed; the entire party is standing together. We are not shocked by the court's decision, but we all should be worried about the tremors being felt by the democracy,” she said.

Natarajan also backed Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's allegations of “seat chori” (seat theft), arguing that the issue was evident in the way her nomination was handled.

“Seat chori is very evident, and everyone has been a witness to it. The nomination of a candidate belonging to a corporate setup is not cancelled, whereas the nomination of one who is contesting on the basis of constitutional values gets cancelled,” she said.

“This is not the first time our party leaders have been talking about 'vote chori' and now 'seat chori' is taking place,” she added.

Questioning the functioning of the Election Commission, Natarajan alleged that the institution had failed to act independently.

“I have been reiterating that the Election Commission is compromised. This has been proved again today,” she said.

The controversy stems from the rejection of Natarajan's Rajya Sabha nomination by the Returning Officer over the alleged non-disclosure of a criminal case registered in Telangana. While the Supreme Court declined to provide immediate relief, it left open the option for her to pursue the matter before the Election Commission.

(With IANS inputs)