New Delhi: Congress leader Meenakshi Natarajan has termed the Supreme Court dismissal of her plea challenging the rejection of her Rajya Sabha nomination papers from Madhya Pradesh as a blow to democracy and the Constitution. Speaking to the media on Friday, the veteran politician emphasized that she does not view the judicial outcome as a personal defeat but rather as a critical question regarding the survival of democratic values and institutional integrity in the country.
The political storm began when the Returning Officer for Madhya Pradesh, Arvind Sharma, rejected Natarajan’s nomination papers on June 9. The rejection was based on a complaint alleging the non disclosure of a private complaint notice issued by a Hyderabad court in October 2025. The Congress party strongly defended its sole nominee for the three Rajya Sabha seats from the state, clarifying that Natarajan was merely a respondent in the matter and not an accused. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing her, argued before the top court that charges had not been framed, making the rejection contrary to election laws.
A Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice AS Chandurkar declined to entertain the writ petition on Friday. Citing the constitutional boundaries under Article 329, the bench ruled that courts cannot intervene midway through an ongoing electoral process. The judges clarified that the appropriate legal remedy for the aggrieved candidate is to file an election petition after the completion of the polls, adding that their dismissal would not prejudice any future petition filed before the High Court.
Natarajan launched a scathing attack on the poll body following the verdict, accusing the Election Commission of being deeply compromised. She stated that commission officials completely ignored representations from senior Congress delegates and left them without answers for 48 hours. While expressing disappointment with the overall system, she noted that the Supreme Court at least gave them a fair hearing before passing its judgment.
The rejection has sparked intense political warfare and public demonstrations, with Congress workers staging a Satyagraha protest in New Delhi on Friday. With the cancellation of the opposition candidate’s papers, all three Bharatiya Janata Party nominees from Madhya Pradesh are poised to enter the upper house of parliament completely unopposed. In response to the setback, Natarajan stated that the Congress party will hold high level internal consultations with senior leadership to formulate a comprehensive future strategy to challenge the decision legally and politically.