Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Siddaramaiah on Wednesday, 10 June alleged that the rejection of Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan's nomination for the Rajya Sabha election from Madhya Pradesh was a 'blatant illegality' and part of a deliberate conspiracy to undermine democratic institutions. The Congress leader made these charges in a formal statement, directly accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of misusing electoral machinery to secure a seat it could not have won through legitimate means.

The Nomination Rejection

Siddaramaiah argued that the grounds for rejecting Natarajan's nomination were legally untenable. He maintained that a private complaint does not constitute a criminal case unless a court formally takes cognisance of it, and that a court notice alone cannot be treated as a criminal proceeding requiring mandatory disclosure. 'The legal position was clearly placed before the Returning Officer. Yet, the nomination was rejected,' he alleged, adding that the decision was 'not independent, fair or impartial but politically driven.'

What Siddaramaiah Alleged About BJP's Strategy

According to Siddaramaiah, the BJP had fielded a third candidate for the Rajya Sabha election despite reportedly having the numbers to win only two seats. He alleged that attempts were made to secure support through inducements offered to Congress legislators, but these efforts failed as party MLAs remained united. 'When those attempts started failing, and Congress legislators stood together, the BJP used the election machinery to directly reject the Congress candidate's nomination,' he alleged.

The Irony Argument

Siddaramaiah drew pointed attention to the timing of the alleged rejection, noting it coincided with the BJP celebrating Prime Minister Narendra Modi's tenure in office as a democratic milestone. 'It is peak irony that on the day the BJP is celebrating Prime Minister Narendra Modi's supposed long stay in power as a milestone for Indian democracy, the election machinery under his watch has illegally rejected the nomination of Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan,' he said.

Broader Pattern Alleged

The Congress leader went further, alleging that the Madhya Pradesh incident was not isolated but part of a wider pattern of democratic subversion. He claimed the BJP had engaged in voter list manipulation and other methods amounting to what he termed 'vote theft,' and that this episode represented a new dimension — 'seat theft.' 'Whether by manipulating voters, breaking parties, buying loyalty, misusing institutions or stealing seats, the objective remains the same: to manufacture artificial numbers in Parliament,' he alleged. He further claimed such numbers were being used to pass laws he described as anti-democratic and contrary to the Constitution.

Congress's Next Steps

Siddaramaiah vowed that the Congress party would contest the nomination rejection through every available democratic channel. 'We will stand with the people and fight this injustice through every democratic avenue available to us,' he said. The party is expected to challenge the Returning Officer's decision through legal and procedural routes, though no formal legal action had been announced at the time of his statement.