Opposition Seeks Disqualification of Two Bihar Independent MLCs
Bihar's opposition on Sunday called for the disqualification of two newly elected independent Legislative Council members who had announced their joining of the BJP the previous day. The demand has triggered a broader political debate over defection and electoral alliances.
Banshidhar Brajwasi held on to the Tirhut Graduates constituency seat in last week's election, marking his second consecutive win. Rahul Raj, a rebel BJP leader, won the Saran Teachers constituency as an independent after that seat was allotted to the JDU.
The two legislators attended a meeting of the BJP legislature party on Saturday evening, where they announced that they were joining the party. They later posed for pictures at the BJP office holding membership slips.
Tejashwi Yadav, the RJD leader and former deputy chief minister, has demanded that Brajwasi and Raj be disqualified for breaching the anti-defection law. He accused the BJP of making a mockery of the Constitution.
According to Yadav, the Tenth Schedule explicitly states that an independent candidate elected to the House who joins a political party after the election will lose membership of the House.
RJD national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Manoj Kumar Jha endorsed these views. He said a party delegation would meet the state Legislative Council Chairman, and the party would also approach the Election Commission on the issue.
Congress, an ally of the RJD, claimed the development amounted to the BJP stabbing its alliance partner JDU in the back. The JDU had suffered defeats in both the Tirhut Graduates and Saran Teachers constituencies.
Congress spokesperson Asit Nath Tiwari said the BJP had consistently called the INDIA bloc fractured. He questioned how the party had plotted to defeat its own ally, saying the truth was now visible to everyone.
Jan Suraaj Party, led by Prashant Kishor, joined the attack on the ruling alliance. Its national spokesperson Kumar Saurabh described the episode as the most brutal and crude joke ever played on India's constitutional democracy. He said it was an effort by the BJP to salvage its public image after a poor performance in the biennial polls for eight Council seats.
The BJP had fielded candidates for four seats and won two. Its ally JDU contested the remaining seats and won one. The RJD won two seats and the Jan Suraaj Party secured one.
Saurabh also rejected the claims of several BJP leaders who sought to close the controversy by saying the two independents had not taken party membership and had merely extended support. He said the public statements made by the two members left no room for doubt.
He said the party had kept photographs of the membership slips, which would be placed before the Council Chairman and the Election Commission.
Saurabh cited several Supreme Court rulings, which he said required action on such anti-defection violations within three months. He warned that if no action was taken in this case, the party would approach the Supreme Court.