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Telangana Congress in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan’s Rajya Sabha nomination paper from Madhya Pradesh was rejected on Tuesday, June 9. The reason behind the rejection, according to the returning officer, was that she failed to disclose details about a case against her in Telangana. The case originated from a police complaint filed in 2022, when a Congress woman worker went to court alleging intimidation, harassment and inaction by several Congress leaders in the state based on two complaints of sexual assault.
While Meenakshi has been named as a respondent in the case, court records indicate that the primary allegations of sexual assault are directed against Congress leader Kumbham Shiva Kumar Reddy. Leaders including Meenakshi were accused of failing to act despite being informed of the complainant’s grievances.
The complaint was filed in 2025 before the 4th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's court in Hyderabad by a former municipal corporator, elected on a Telugu Desam Party (TDP) ticket between 2002 and 2007. She later joined the Congress.
In her petition, she alleged that Shiva Kumar Reddy physically molested her and threatened her life. She further alleged that she faced humiliation and defamation because she belonged to a Backward Class (BC) community, while Shiva Kumar Reddy belonged to the Reddy caste.
According to court documents with TNM, the complainant said she had lodged police complaints against Shiva Kumar Reddy on multiple occasions.
An FIR was first registered at Hyderabad’s Punjagutta police station in May 2022, while another FIR was registered at Bengaluru’s Cubbon Park police station in June 2023.
The Panjagutta FIR registered the complaint under sections for rape and criminal intimidation. While the Cubbon Park FIR was also registered under the same sections but also included Section 354 for assault or criminal force on woman with intent to outrage her modesty and Section 34 (acts done by several people in furtherance of a common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
She later filed a protest petition before the Hyderabad court in May 2025, alleging that despite repeated complaints, no effective action had been taken by the party. The complainant asked the court to “take cognisance against the accused persons and direct them to pay Rs 10 crore and punish them as per law”.
Congress leaders TNM spoke to said that following these allegations, he was removed as the DCC president for Narayanpet district. The woman in her complaint in court, however, said that he was merely suspended from the party.
The petition names seven Congress leaders as respondents, including Meenakshi Natarajan, incumbent Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president B Mahesh Kumar Goud, incumbent Animal Husbandry minister Vakati Srihari, Narayanpet MLA Chittem Parnika Reddy and others.
However, the complaint primarily focuses on Shiva Kumar Reddy, while the remaining leaders are accused of having been informed about the alleged threats and harassment but failing to intervene.
The complainant claimed that Meenakshi Natarajan informed her that action had been taken against Shiva Kumar Reddy and that he had been suspended from the party but alleged that no suspension order was subsequently shared with her despite her requests.
Congress sources also told TNM that Shiva Kumar Reddy was removed as District Congress Committee (DCC) president of Narayanpet following the complaint, though the complainant has alleged that he resigned voluntarily.
She further claimed that Vakati Srihari, who later became DCC president, did not act on her complaints because of his proximity to Shiva Kumar Reddy.
