Why was Meenakshi Natarajan's Rajya Sabha nomination rejected? All about the 'case' that led to rejection

The rejection of Congress leader Meenakshi Natarajan's nomination for the Rajya Sabha elections sparked a row on Tuesday. As Congress leaders protested against the decision, a returning officer reportedly said she had failed to disclose details of a case against her in Telangana.

"Natarajan's nomination has been rejected by the Returning Officer on the grounds of hiding information about a case," an MP Assembly official told PTI on Tuesday.

However, Opposition leaders, who called the rejection "illegal", said Natarajan had no FIR filed against her. Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, "The basis of the rejection was a misconception that there is some criminal case pending against her which she did not disclose in her form."

"The irony is that there is no criminal case that actually exists in law, that is established, that she could have disclosed," Singhvi said.

What's the ‘case’ against Meenakshi Natarajan?

The case originated from a police complaint filed in 2022, when a Congress woman worker went to court alleging intimidation, harassment and inaction by several Congress leaders in the state based on two complaints of sexual assault, The News Minute reported.

The report added that Meenakshi has been named as a respondent in the case, while court records indicate that the primary allegations of sexual assault are directed against Congress leader Kumbham Shiva Kumar Reddy.

Leaders, including Meenakshi, were accused of failing to act despite being informed of the complainant’s grievances, the report added.

The complaint was reportedly filed before the 4th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's court in Hyderabad in 2025 by a former municipal corporator, elected on a Telugu Desam Party (TDP) ticket between 2002 and 2007. She later joined the Congress.

In her petition, she alleged that Shiva Kumar Reddy physically molested her and threatened her life, The News Minute reported.

The complainant alleged that she faced humiliation and defamation because she belonged to a Backward Class (BC) community, while Shiva Kumar Reddy belonged to the Reddy caste.

According to court documents accessed by The News Minute, the complainant said she had lodged police complaints against Shiva Kumar Reddy on multiple occasions.

An FIR was first registered at Hyderabad’s Punjagutta police station in May 2022, while another FIR was registered at Bengaluru’s Cubbon Park police station in June 2023.

The Panjagutta FIR registered the complaint under sections for rape and criminal intimidation.

While the Cubbon Park FIR was also registered under the same sections, it also included Section 354 for assault or criminal force on a woman with intent to outrage her modesty and Section 34 (acts done by several people in furtherance of a common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

According to the report, she later filed a protest petition before the Hyderabad court in May 2025, alleging that despite repeated complaints, no effective action had been taken by the party.

Allegation against Meenakshi Natarajan

The petition reportedly named seven Congress leaders as respondents, including Meenakshi Natarajan, incumbent Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president B Mahesh Kumar Goud, incumbent Animal Husbandry minister Vakati Srihari, Narayanpet MLA Chittem Parnika Reddy and others.

The complaint primarily focused on Shiva Kumar Reddy, while the remaining leaders were accused of being informed of the alleged threats and harassment but failing to intervene.

The complainant asked the court to “take cognisance against the accused persons and direct them to pay ₹10 crore and punish them as per law”.

According to The News Minute, the complainant claimed that Meenakshi Natarajan informed her that action had been taken against Shiva Kumar Reddy and that he had been suspended from the party.

The complainant, however, alleged that no suspension order was subsequently shared with her despite her requests.

Case or no case?

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said, "Smriti Irani ji of the BJP can contest with three different educational qualifications in her LS affidavits, EC ignores all complaints but Meenakshi Natarajan of the Congress has her RS nomination cancelled because her affidavit doesn’t mention some obscure complaint with no FIR & zero chance to explain to EC."

Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also said the ground used to reject her nomination is "completely illegal," and that “there is no criminal case against Ms. Natarajan in the eyes of law.”

BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi, however, claimed a case was pending against the Congress candidate, Meenakshi Natarajan, in a Telangana court. "It was a case filed by a woman Congress worker from Telangana against a Congress leader from the same state, alleging exploitation and inappropriate behaviour."

"In her complaint, she had also named the Congress candidate — who was the leader in charge — in connection with the matter...," Trivedi alleged