A day after the rejection of her nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha elections, Congress leader Meenakshi Natarajan on Wednesday said that she believes that democratic integrity still exists in the country, expressing hope that the Election Commission of India (ECI) would decide in her favour.
“We still have full hope in constitutional institutions, and that’s why we are fighting this battle. The Election Commission has heard our case today, and now we are waiting. We are in our fight. We still believe, somewhere or the other, that some form of democratic integrity remains in a democracy,” Natarajan told reporters after meeting ECI officials.
Natarajan said that senior lawyers of the Congress party have made representation to the Election Commission.
“Our senior lawyers have presented their case on our behalf, and we are fighting our battle,” she said.
Her remarks came after a delegation of senior Congress leaders, including KC Venugopal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Jairam Ramesh, Randeep Singh Surjewala, Vivek Tankha, Digvijaya Singh and Bhupesh Baghel, met Election Commission officials seeking intervention in the matter.
On Tuesday, Natarajan’s nomination for the Rajya Sabha polls from Madhya Pradesh, was rejected over non-disclosure after BJP objection.
According to the returning officer, Natarajan allegedly concealed information about a court case in Telangana.
However, the Congress has argued that Natarajan was merely issued a notice by the court after a private complaint and that no fire was filed against her.
“We have told them (ECI), and we have demonstrated, according to us, beyond doubt and beyond any matter of controversy, that the RO has passed a perverse order. An order akin to writing 2+2=7, not 4,” Singhvi said.
He further argued that the rejection was based on an incorrect interpretation of Section 33A of the Representation of the People Act, which requires candidates to disclose only those criminal cases where charges have been formally framed by a court and where the alleged offence carries a punishment of more than two years.
According to Singhvi, the matter cited against Natarajan had not even reached the stage of cognisance, making the basis for rejection legally untenable.
The Congress leader also urged the Election Commission to invoke its powers under Article 324 of the Constitution to provide immediate corrective relief, citing previous instances in Haryana and Gujarat where the poll body had intervened in cases involving rejected nominations.