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| Let seven BJP MLAs quit Assembly to show their worth in fresh poll | | | ET Report
JAMMU, Feb 25: Whether under the anti-defection law, that is in force in Jammu and Kashmir, or under normal political procedure once a member or members of the state Assembly belonging to a political party are suspended or expelled from their parent organisation on charge of defying the party whip by indulging in cross voting during the legislative council election the member or the members are supposed to quit the Assembly and seek fresh election.
The seven BJP MAs who stand suspended on charge of indulging in cross voting in Legislative Council election in April last do not seem to be prepared to do so and show to the party high command that they matter more than the BJP. Hitherto the BJP leadership has been claiming that "it is the party and not the individual that matters."
Well what seems to be amazing in the eyes of those who matter in the BJP is the inordinate delay it has taken for the speaker of the Assembly, Mohd. Akbar Lone, to settle the issue. Under the anti-defection law the speaker is the sole authority to decide whether the action of a member or some members of the Assembly belonging to a party falls under the purview of anti-defection law or not.
Again once the speaker comes to the conclusion that the action of a member or some members comes under the purview of anti-defection law he has to accept the recommendation of the leader of that party and announce disqualification of the erring member or members from the Assembly.
It was in November last that the speaker had announced that he will announce his decision on the issue by the beginning of December but the month of February is to end shortly and his decision on the issue is still not available.
However, Assembly secretariat sources said that since a senior BJP member of the Assembly, Prof. Chaman Lal Gupta, had challenged the order expelling him from the party in the High Court this has ostensibly made it mandatory for the speaker to await the outcome of the Court verdict.
Again what seems to be surprising to the BJP leadership is the silence on the part of the speaker when a CPIM member, M.Y. Tarigami, had enquired whether the BJP within the Assembly had registered a split. At that stage the speaker had informed Tarigami and others that he had not yet decided on the issue without having told the members that under the amended anti-defection law there is no provision for a split in any organisation.
Prior to the amendment to the anti-defection law, enacted in 2006, there used to be a provision for a split. Under the unamended anti-defection law in case a one-third members of the Assembly belonging to a political party formed a separate political unit they could not attract any disqualification.
If the suspended seven BJP MLAs claim that they were made a scapegoat and the four MLAs of the party who had been given a clean chit by the party high command were not as clean as they were being projected the members led by Chaman Lal Gupta should resign from the House and seek reelection in order to show to their detractors that they were genuine BJP leaders in case they emerged victorious in the battle of the ballot.
So long the seven MLAs continue to dither and evade their disqualification under legal cover they would be construed as "B" team of the National Conference. By clamouring in favour of immediate action against the suspended BJP MLAs the Congress leadership in the state seems to be able to remove an impression which had led many to believe that Congress too had been a beneficiary of cross voting by he BJP members. |
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