Congress' Madhya Pradesh Candidate Meenakshi Natarajan Files Nomination For Rajya Sabha Election As BJP Eyes Even 3rd Seat

· Free Press Journal

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan, who is contesting against BJP's Mahesh Kewat, on Monday filed her nomination here for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls, calling it a "fight for the Gandhian ideology versus the BJP's divisive politics".

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Voting for the three Rajya Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh will be held on June 18. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday named Mahesh Kewat, chairman of the Fishermen Welfare Board, as its third candidate for the election. Kewat will contest against Natarajan for the third seat.

Mahesh Kewat files nomination in presence of CM Yadav

Mahesh Kewat also filed his nominaion on Monday in the presence of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav.

CM yadav also confirmed the submission of nomination form by Kewat. He further said, "The BJP has shown its commitment to all sections of society by providing representation to him in the Upper House."

Patwari criticises BJP

On Monday, Leader of Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh assembly Umang Singhar, state Congress president Jitu Patwari and former chief minister Digvijaya Singh accompanied Natarajan as she presented her nomination papers to the Returning Officer and the assembly's principal secretary, Arvind Sharma.

The Congress expressed confidence of winning the seat despite the BJP's last-minute decision to field Kewat. "Our candidate will win 500%," Patwari told reporters.

Patwari criticised the BJP, saying its move to field a third candidate despite lacking sufficient numbers exposed its tall claims of supporting women and tabling the Women's Reservation Bill in Parliament. He added that the ruling party had opposed a woman candidate fielded by the Congress.

Natarajan, while thanking the party leadership and MLAs for nominating her, said, "By announcing a candidate for the third seat despite lacking the numbers, the BJP has exposed its tactics, character and face." She alleged that the BJP often uses such opportunities to poach MLAs and weaken democracy, but added, "This time, their ploy will fail in Madhya Pradesh."

Singhar also expressed confidence in Congress's victory in the Rajya Sabha polls, describing the contest as a "fight between Gandhiji's ideology and that of Nathuram Godse".

Cabinet Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya's 'Third Candidate' Remark Triggers Speculation About BJP Game Plan For Madhya Pradesh Rajya Sabha Polls

Currently, the effective vote count in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly is 228. Of these, the BJP has 164 MLAs and the Congress has 64. Due to the unclear status of Bina MLA Nirmala Sapre's vote, which appears to be leaning towards the BJP, and the ban on voting for Vijaypur MLA Mukesh Malhotra, the Congress's effective tally has been reduced to 62.

Each candidate needs 58 votes to win in the Rajya Sabha polls. Consequently, the BJP needs 116 votes to secure two seats. After casting 116 votes out of a total of 164, the BJP will have 48 remaining and will require an additional 10 votes to win the third seat, party sources said.

The Congress has the required numbers to win one seat, but the BJP's announcement of a third candidate has made Natarajan's election path more challenging.

BJP's Madhya Pradesh Candidates Tarun Chugh & Rajneesh Agarwal File Nominations For Rajya Sabha Polls-- VIDEO

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