PCC Chief Mahesh Kumar Goud expressed strong outrage over the rejection of senior Congress leader Meenakshi Natarajan’s Rajya Sabha nomination. He called it outrageous that her nomination was rejected with malicious intent using a mere notice as a pretext, with no actual case or FIR registered against her. He alleged that the BJP stooped to this level purely out of a conspiracy to increase its strength in the Rajya Sabha. He expressed grief that Meenakshi Natarajan — a Gandhian and a mirror of integrity — is like a sister to him, and that such a person was made a sacrificial lamb in this election.
Mahesh Kumar Goud alleged that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) directly interfered in the entire matter and derailed the case. He made sharp remarks that the Returning Officer acted beyond his jurisdiction by buckling under political pressure, and that hanging such an RO would not be wrong for committing such a mistake. He said it was regrettable that the Election Commission of India had not responded to the matter even after 24 hours. He added that unfortunately, justice was not served even in the Supreme Court, and questioned whether Modi would have become Chief Minister or Prime Minister if Congress had indulged in such wrongdoing when it was in power. He fumed that the BJP, which once stole votes, is now stealing seats too, and that the entire country witnessed what happened in Bengal and Maharashtra.
Responding to the allegations made by senior party leader Shabbir Ali, Mahesh Kumar Goud said there was no need to speak about it in such haste. He made it clear that the people of Nizamabad know very well what his assets and character are. He pointed out that it was Shabbir Ali himself who inducted Chandrasekhar Reddy into the party in the presence of the Chief Minister, and said it was therefore not appropriate for him to speak the way he did now. He also revealed that a show-cause notice had been issued to Shabbir Ali on behalf of the party. He called it deeply unfortunate that an audio from a year ago was being dug up now to make belittling remarks about women.
Responding to BRS leader KTR’s tweets, Mahesh Kumar Goud said that those who leak things and self-styled heroes keep making noise, and that CM Revanth Reddy is conducting a thorough investigation into those matters. He demanded that KTR respond to the Meenakshi Natarajan issue — which he called an axe blow to democracy — rather than commenting on irrelevant matters. He remarked that his nature and character are known far better to KTR’s brother-in-law Harish Rao than to KTR himself.