New Delhi: The nomination of Meenakshi Natarajan, the Congress’s sole candidate from Madhya Pradesh for the latest round of Rajya Sabha elections, was cancelled on Tuesday (June 8) in a series of dramatic developments in Bhopal and New Delhi.After Natarajan’s nomination was cancelled allegedly over her failure to disclose the details of a criminal case pending against her in her affidavit, a delegation of Congress MPs sought to meet the Election Commission in Delhi but were stopped from entering, following which they sat on a dharna outside the poll body’s office.In a statement, the Congress accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Election Commission of silencing “every democratic voice”.“Democracy cannot survive when constitutional institutions are reduced to instruments of political convenience. The rejection of Congress Rajya Sabha candidate Meenakshi Natarajan’s nomination from Madhya Pradesh raises serious questions about the fairness of our democratic institutions,” the party said.“When a Congress delegation approached the Election Commission to challenge this decision, officials refused to even meet them, forcing the delegation to stage a sit-in outside its office. The country is watching.”Congress MPs K.C. Venugopal and Jairam Ramesh, former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot and former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel had reached the Election Commission’s office in Delhi after Natarajan’s nomination was cancelled. But the delegation was not allowed inside, following which they sat on a dharna outside.“Every such action raises serious questions about the independence of institutions and the health of our democracy. Democracy belongs to the people, not to those who seek to undermine it. PM Modi and the Election Commission want to silence every democratic voice that challenges the government. But our fight to protect the Constitution and democratic values will continue,” the Congress said.Earlier on Tuesday, BJP state general secretary Rahul Kothari raised objection to Natarajan’s nomination papers and pointed to a private complaint pending before a court in Hyderabad, the Indian Express reported.Congress Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha in a statement on the other hand said that confusion is being spread on Natarajan’s nomination and no criminal case had been registered.“No criminal case has been registered. Only a notice has been received stating why proceedings for Rs 10 crore compensation should not be initiated against her and other people. Meenakshi ji‘s lawyer has responded to this notice. No FIR has been filed,” he said.Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath on the other hand accused the BJP of having “crossed all limits of political propriety” in its effort to defeat the Congress candidate.He also said that the aircraft carrying Congress legislators out of Madhya Pradesh earlier in the day had been deliberately delayed, and described the objection to Natarajan’s nomination as a malicious attempt to derail her candidature.The Congress had plans of shifting its MLAs out of the state to Karnataka.At a press conference, Natarajan said that “what was limited to vote theft has now become seat theft”.“When they [the BJP] felt this was a united house and not the divided house, then in the guise of a legal notice, which was not taken cognisance of, they challenged the election petition – both our advocates presented the arguments, those were not heard and the decision came,” she said.“Their intention has become clear. This is not about one candidature, there is a serious situation in the country.”In the 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly, the BJP has the numbers to get two candidates elected to the Rajya Sabha, having a total of 164 MLAs in the house. However the party fielded three candidates for the election – its national general secretary Tarun Chugh, state unit secretary Rajneesh Agrawal and state Fishermen Welfare Board chairman Mahesh Kewat.Kewat’s nomination drew concerns over cross-voting and defections.Madhya Pradesh minister and senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya on the other hand alleged that the saffron party had received details of the complaint against Natarajan from the Congress in Telangana, where she is the All India Congress Committee in-charge.“Where did we get the documents from? Who gave it to us? For this reason, you can understand the condition the Congress is in. We are getting papers from Telangana, where the Congress is in power and they are giving us information. The Congress can take its MLAs to Bengaluru or anywhere but the people of the country have faith in Modi,” he said.A Congress delegation is slated to meet the Election Commission in New Delhi on Wednesday.