Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge accuses the Election Commission of bias following the rejection of Congress leader Meenakshi Natrajan's Rajya Sabha nomination. Several Congress leaders slammed the BJP, calling it an 'assault on democracy'.
Kharge Accuses EC of Bias
Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge has accused the Election Commission of acting in alignment with the ruling dispensation rather than the Constitution of India, following the rejection of Congress leader Meenakshi Natrajan's Rajya Sabha nomination. Speaking to reporters, Kharge addressed the Congress party's decision to send a delegation to meet with the Election Commission regarding the rejection. "Now, they (EC) are resorting to rejecting affidavits," Kharge said. "There is a process to hear out the concerned applicant. It is clear that the way things are working in the democracy is as per the ruling dispensation and not the Constitution of India."
Kharge Calls for RSS Registration
During the same interaction, the Minister also called for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to be officially registered. "I am not asking RSS workers to get recognised or registered, but only asking RSS to get registered," Kharge stated. Highlighting what he described as a lack of transparency, he added, "In a country where all street vendors are registered, every temple has to give accounts, donations are accounted for, so how is RSS not registered?"
Congress Condemns 'Assault on Democracy'
Several Congress leaders, including Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, slammed the BJP over the rejection of nomination papers of party candidate Meenakshi Natarajan for the Rajya Sabha polls in Madhya Pradesh. Reddy alleged that the BJP is resorting to "seat chori" after "vote chori and SIR".He said rejection of Natarajan's candidature amounts to an assault on democracy.
"I condemn the conspiracy by the BJP in Madhya Pradesh, which resulted in the rejection of Ms Meenakshi Natarajanji's Rajya Sabha nomination. After Vote Chori and SIR, they are now resorting to Seat Chori," he said in a post on X. "This is an assault on democracy. People's voices are being stifled. This is a dark day for Indian democracy and needs to be condemned by all citizens. We will all fight for justice," he added.
A Congress delegation went to meet the Election Commission in the evening, and party leaders said that they could not meet officials. The Election Commission later said it had invited a delegation of Congress to meet with the Commission on June 10. Congress slammed the BJP after nomination papers of Meenakshi Natarajan, the party's candidate for Rajya Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh, were rejected, with a party delegation also going to meet the Election Commission over the issue. Party leader Sachin Pilot also slammed the BJP over the rejection of nomination papers.
Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said that rejecting Meenakshi Natarajan's "nomination to the Rajya Sabha is a blatant attempt by the BJP to destroy the democratic process clandestinely." "The allegation of any error or non-disclosure in her nomination is complete humbug and a desperate attempt to snatch a seat from the INC. They stooped so low as to reject her nomination when they realised that their dirty tricks to compromise our INC MLAs were going to fail," he said in a post on X. "This shows the BJP's hollow commitment to the Constitution and democracy. At every step of the way, they are hell-bent on Vote Chori - one way or another. We will not take this daylight robbery of democracy lying down, and will fight this legally as well as politically on the streets tooth-and-nail," he added.
Delegation 'Deliberately Stopped' at EC Office
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, who was among the party leaders who reached the Election Commission, said that they wanted to submit a petition to the Election Commission. He accused the poll body of "deliberately stopping" the party delegation and said he had never seen something like this. "We have come here to submit a petition. Our candidate has been disqualified. We just want to submit our petition to the Election Commission...Why can't I sit in the waiting room? I have been a Member of Parliament for over 35 years. I have been waiting here for over 10 minutes. You are deliberately stopping us. I have never seen anything like this," he said.
The polling for Rajya Sabha biennial elections is slated to take place on June 18. (ANI)
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