So returning officer is right and Meenakshi Natarajan was wrong? Not really |
A lady filed a complaint of inappropriate behaviour against a Congress worker in 2022 in Telangana. Three years later, the Congress made Meenakshi Natarajan — former Lok Sabha MP and a resident of Madhya Pradesh — in-charge of Telangana. The lady went to court and filed a complaint against several people including Natarajan, named at number 4 for ostensibly taking no action against the man she had accused. A Telangana court sent notices to the people named, including Natarajan, in September 2025. The court is yet to take cognisance of the case and the charges are yet to be framed.
Now, hear Natarajan herself. The returning officer for the upcoming Rajya Sabha election, she claimed, had held that she had concealed information about the ‘notice’ in Form 26, which she had filled as part of her Rajya Sabha nomination papers. Details required in the form ranged from the political party she sought to represent, her serial number in the electoral roll, information about Income Tax, PAN, properties and personal information like her phone number and email ID.
The form also sought details about a) details of pending criminal cases against her and b) details of cases in which she may have been convicted by a court of law.
Form 26, she claimed, did not........