Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Congress leaders staged demonstrations across the state on Wednesday after the party candidate's Rajya Sabha election nomination form was cancelled by the returning officer on Tuesday.
In Bhopal, a few hundred party leaders participated in the demonstration. Most of them were MLAs and senior party leaders. But the second-line and third-line party workers were seen missing from the demonstration area.
State party president Jitu Patwari said that the protest was against BJP's assault on democracy.
Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee will lay siege to BJP offices in all districts over the next month, lay siege to the Chief Minister's residence in Bhopal, and take out a march along with MLAs to Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi. He asserted that this fight would not stop.
Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar said, "Earlier, BJP was forming government by 'vote theft', but now they had started 'seat theft' by cancelling the nomination forms."
Former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh said, "This is an unconstitutional and illegal decision, showing clear bias by the returning officer. Both legal and political steps will be taken."
MLA Jaivardhan Singh said the case for which her nomination was rejected was merely a non-cognisable notice. He said, "There is no case pending against Meenakshi Natarajan. The matter dates back to 2017, when she was not even in charge of Telangana."
