Bengaluru: Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Siddaramaiah on Wednesday 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 larger conspiracy to undermine democratic institutions.
In a statement, Siddaramaiah said it was ironic that the BJP was celebrating Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s long tenure in office while, according to him, democratic processes were being subverted through the misuse of electoral machinery.
“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 for the Rajya Sabha election from Madhya Pradesh,” he said.
Siddaramaiah alleged that the rejection of Natarajan’s nomination was not a routine scrutiny decision but a politically motivated act aimed at benefiting the BJP.
According to him, the BJP had fielded a third candidate for the Rajya Sabha election despite having the numbers to win only two seats. He further alleged that attempts were made to secure support through inducements offered to Congress legislators, but these efforts failed as Congress 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,” Siddaramaiah alleged.
Questioning the grounds on which the nomination was rejected, he argued that there was no criminal case against Natarajan in the eyes of the law. He maintained that a private complaint does not amount to a criminal case unless a court takes cognisance of it, and that a court notice alone cannot be treated as a criminal proceeding requiring disclosure.
“The legal position was clearly placed before the Returning Officer. Yet, the nomination was rejected. This demonstrates that the decision was not independent, fair or impartial but politically driven to help the BJP secure a victory it could not have achieved honestly,” he alleged.
Siddaramaiah further claimed that the incident was part of a broader pattern of actions by the BJP aimed at manipulating democratic processes.
“Through voter list revisions and other methods, the BJP has been carrying out vote theft. Now, seat theft has been added to the same project. 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 that such numbers were being used to pass laws he described as anti-democratic and contrary to the spirit of the Constitution.
The Congress leader said the party would strongly oppose what he termed an assault on democracy and constitutional values.
“We will stand with the people and fight this injustice through every democratic avenue available to us,” Siddaramaiah said.
(IANS)
