Hyderabad, Jun 10 (PTI) Telangana BJP president N Ramchander Rao on Wednesday said candidates running for public office must disclose details about cases and assets, and alleged that Congress Rajya Sabha candidate Meenakshi Natarajan had not submitted information about a case against her despite being aware of it.
Natarajan is the AICC in-charge of party affairs in Telangana.
Asked about the rejection of Natarajan’s nomination, Rao said the Election Commission must have taken the decision based on the evidence available to it and that the BJP had nothing to do with it.
“The rule is that you must disclose any cases and assets. There is no exemption. It is a direction given by the Supreme Court, and you have to mention it in the affidavit. She did not mention it. Was she not aware of the case? She filed a counter in the concerned court. She had knowledge of that case,” he said.
The nomination was bound to be rejected when information was not disclosed, said Rao, also a senior lawyer.
The June 18 elections for three Rajya Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh took a dramatic turn on Tuesday when Natarajan’s nomination was rejected on grounds of concealing information in her affidavit.
In an order issued by Returning Officer Arvind Sharma, it was found that Natarajan had submitted an incomplete affidavit by not mentioning a court complaint in Form 26 submitted along with the nomination.
Asked about Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s allegation that his Maharashtra counterpart Devendra Fadnavis was not giving time to discuss the height of a barrage proposed to be built by the Telangana government on the Godavari river at the border between the two states, Rao alleged that Reddy was not making a sincere effort.
“You have the same status here. It is not correct to say that the Maharashtra CM is not giving an appointment to the Telangana CM. Devendra Fadnavis has a humane approach and never insults anyone. Otherwise, I will take him (Reddy) to the Maharashtra CM if he is interested. He is not sincerely trying for an appointment,” he said.
Drawing a parallel with former CM K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), the BJP leader said Revanth Reddy would meet the same political fate as his predecessor.
The BJP leader highlighted the Narendra Modi government’s achievements in view of Modi becoming the longest-serving democratically elected Prime Minister of India in consecutive terms, saying the country was moving on the path of becoming ‘atma nirbhar’ (self-sufficient) in various sectors.
He said the NDA government had provided Rs 13 lakh crore in development funds to Telangana.
Besides progress in various sectors, the NDA government had reacted decisively when terror attacks occurred, including the Pahalgam attack, and the country’s stature had risen internationally during the Modi government’s tenure, he said.
The colonial mindset had changed, and it was a New India of public welfare and development under Modi’s leadership, he added. PTI SJR GDK SJR SSK
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