Congress hangs RSS uniform at Bhopal election office over Natarajan’s Rajya Sabha rejection

Congress workers protested the rejection of Rajya Sabha candidate Meenakshi Natarajan’s nomination by hanging an RSS uniform on the locked gate of the Chief Electoral Officer’s office in Bhopal.

BHOPAL: Escalating its protest against the rejection of Congress Rajya Sabha candidate Meenakshi Natarajan’s nomination, Congress workers on Wednesday hung a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) uniform on the locked gate of the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) in Bhopal, accusing constitutional institutions of functioning under ideological influence.The workers reached the CEO office in the morning, found the gate shut, briefly staged a protest and left after hanging the RSS dress outside the premises.The protest marked a continuation of the political agitation that began late Tuesday night after the nomination was rejected during scrutiny proceedings. Around 10.30 pm on Tuesday, senior Congress leaders, including Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar, along with MLAs and party workers, reached the CEO office and staged a sit-in outside the gate.Several leaders lay down on the road in front of the office and continued the protest through the night, alleging that democracy and constitutional norms were being undermined to help BJP secure all three Rajya Sabha seats unopposed.Simultaneously, Congress leaders and workers also sat on a collective fast at Roshanpura Square in the city on Wednesday. Former chief minister Digvijaya Singh, Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Singh, former Union minister Arun Yadav, state Congress chief Jitu Patwari, Umang Singhar and several Congress MLAs participated in the protest.Meanwhile, Patwari issued an open letter to the people of Madhya Pradesh, describing the rejection of Natarajan’s nomination as “an attack on public faith in constitutional institutions”.In the letter, he alleged that democratic institutions across the country were increasingly coming under pressure and appealed to citizens to remain vigilant to “protect the Constitution and democracy”.Congress maintained that the nomination rejection was politically motivated, while BJP defended the returning officer’s decision as being strictly in accordance with election laws and Supreme Court guidelines.