AICC president Mallikarjun alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has 'planted' officers in critical posts to destroy the Congress party and democracy, following a row over Meenakshi Natarajan's RS candidature rejection.
He also reiterated that Meenakshi Natarajan's candidature rejection by the returning officer in Madhya Pradesh was 'illegal'. He was speaking to the media at Vidhana Soudha after receiving his certificate of election as a Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka.
"Meenakshi Natarajan's nomination paper being rejected is illegal, immoral, and anti-democratic. The incident could not have happened without PM Modi's instruction. PM Modi is doing this purposefully to destroy the Congress party and to destroy democracy. He is conspiring by placing his people, especially returning officers who are his close supporters, in key positions", he alleged.
"I am not saying that the Prime Minister is doing it himself, but he has placed RSS agents and his loyalists everywhere. Wherever their government exists, they have positioned people who do not follow the law, rules, or regulations. They reject anyone they want arbitrarily", he maintained.
"In Jharkhand, there was a similar issue where two pages in the nomination papers were left blank. The person had not mentioned it. Details of the children mentioned were also not mentioned, but time to rectify it was given. On the other hand, a nomination by Congress is 'arbitrarily' dismissed on the same evening. Is this democracy?" he asked.
"This clearly shows that even the Election Commission is not acting impartially. If we say anything, they accuse Congress of criticising things always," he said.
Meanwhile, he thanked the people of Karnataka, Congress party functionaries, including CPP chief Sonia Gandhi, for their cooperation as he remains one of the longest-serving public representatives in the country.