MLAs, leaders and workers of the Congress sat on a day-long hunger strike on Wednesday outside the Election Commission (EC) office in Bhopal to protest the rejection of the party’s Rajya Sabha candidate Meenakshi Natarajan’s nomination form.
Alleging a double standard by the EC in similar cases, MP Women’s Congress chief Reena Borasi said the EC has given time to reply until 1 pm on Thursday to an independent candidate supported by the BJP in Jharkhand after the Congress lodged a complaint.
Borasi charged that in a similar matter in Madhya Pradesh, Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan’s nomination was rejected within two hours.
MP Assembly Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar accused the ruling BJP of murdering democracy and violating the Constitution.
The Returning Officer for the Madhya Pradesh Rajya Sabha poll rejected Meenakshi Natarajan’s nomination on Tuesday evening after upholding the BJP’s objection on the grounds that Natarajan did not provide information in her affidavit about a court case against her in Hyderabad, Telangana.