Haryana Speaker disqualifies five ex-INLD MLAs

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 10

Haryana Assembly Speaker Kanwar Pal Gurjar today disqualified five former MLAs of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) under the anti-defection law.

Those dismissed are Naina Chautala (Dabwali), Anoop Dhanak (Uklana), Rajdeep Phogat (Dadri), Prithi Singh (Narwana), all of whom switched sides by joining the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), and Naseem Ahmed (Ferozepur Jhirka), who joined the Congress and later the BJP.

INLD secretary general Abhay Singh Chautala and Fatehabad MLA Balwan Singh Daulatpuria had filed petitions seeking disqualification of Naina, Dhanak, Phogat and Singh, while Abhay and Rania MLA Ram Chand Kamboj had sought Ahmed’s disqualification.

Disqualifying Naina, Dhanak, Phogat and Singh, the Speaker’s order said: “The act of voluntarily giving up membership from the original political party may be either expressed or implied. 

It is not necessary that member is required to submit his/her resignation from the membership of his/her original political party. In the present case, as per evidence available on record, looking into the act and conduct of respondents, it certainly amounts to their giving up membership of the original political i.e. INLD, which had set up them as candidate for election of such political party.”

The order said: “Though their resignations from the membership of Haryana Vidhan Sabha have been accepted by me with effect from September 3, in such situation, there can be no escape from the conclusion that the respondents have incurred disqualification from the membership on the ground of defection under Para-2(1)(a) of the Tenth Schedule to the Constitution read with Article 191(2).”

When questioned that the four MLAs had already resigned on September 3 from the Assembly, the Speaker reasoned: “The petition for their disqualification was filed before their resignations.” “Naina, Dhanak, Phogat and Singh have been disqualified with effect from March 27, while Ahmed has been disqualified with effect from July,” said Sandeep Goyat, who represented Chautala, in the case.

Ahmed had joined the Congress in April, but later switched over to the BJP in August. Party state president BD Dhalia said the Speaker’s order had exposed the MLAs’ gimmick of tendering resignations.