Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader KT Rama Rao (KTR) has launched a sharp attack on the Congress over the rejection of Meenakshi Natarajan's Rajya Sabha nomination, alleging that the party itself was responsible for the crisis and that her defeat was the result of an internal conspiracy. He accused Congress leaders of trying to shift the blame onto their opponents to cover up their own divisions.
Natarajan's nomination from Madhya Pradesh was rejected after the Returning Officer ruled that she had failed to disclose details of a court case in Telangana, rendering her nomination papers incomplete. Whilst Natarajan and the Congress argued that only a legal notice had been issued — meaning there was no requirement to declare it as a pending criminal case — the Election Commission upheld the rejection. The Supreme Court also declined to intervene, noting that any remedy must be sought under standard election law.
Questioning the Congress leadership, KTR said the party should first investigate who leaked the details of Natarajan's legal matters and allegedly passed the information to BJP leaders, who then raised the objection before the Returning Officer. He remarked that Congress leaders know exactly who betrayed the party and suggested that Rahul Gandhi should identify the "black sheep" undermining the organisation from within. Even so, the former Telangana minister conceded that the treatment of Natarajan was wrong, arguing that the Election Commission had acted unfairly by accepting certain discrepancies in Jharkhand whilst rejecting Natarajan's plea.
KTR further claimed that the Congress has a long history of factionalism and internal betrayal. He pointed to recent remarks made by senior Congress leader Shabbir Ali regarding positions allegedly being secured through financial means, saying the comments reflected what many in political circles already knew. In a personal attack, KTR described the Telangana Chief Minister, Revanth Reddy, as a "renewal Chief Minister", claiming his continuation in office depended entirely on satisfying the party high command.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy dismissed any allegations of internal sabotage, instead placing the blame firmly on the BJP and the Returning Officer, whom he labelled the key conspirators. He claimed the BJP was using North Korea's electoral system as a model and had progressed from stealing votes to stealing seats. Reddy argued that the Returning Officer was used as a tool to disqualify Natarajan, calling it a sad day for democracy, and framed the controversy as a battle between Gandhian principles and Godse's ideology. He contended that there was no sabotage from within because Natarajan did not face any FIR against him but was only a respondent in the case.
After the dismissal of her petition by the Supreme Court, Natarajan contended that there was clear "seat theft" involved and claimed that the party was prepared for war. She said that the problem was not one of her defeat, but the repeated defeats of democracy.
Also read: RS candidature: SC dismisses Natrajan's plea against rejection
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