Will move HC over defection of 6 BSP MLAS to Congress, says Mayawati

nNEW DELHI: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Tuesday hit out at Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot for the defection of her party’s six lawmakers in the state to the ruling Congress in 2019, saying they could have moved court against it earlier but were looking for the “right time” to teach them a lesson.

In a statement, she called the merger of the six with Congress unconstitutional” as BSP announced it will move the Rajasthan high court against it. Mayawati said BSP supported the Congress to keep “communal forces” at bay after the 2018 assembly elections.

BSP’S Rajasthan chief, Bhagwan Singh Baba, called the merger unconstitutional. “We are preparing a petition and will file it soon,” said Baba.

The announcement came on the day BJP lawmaker Madan Dilawar filed two petitions in the high court seeking the disqualification of the six. The petitions were filed a day after speaker C P Joshi upheld the merger and the high court dismissed Dilawar plea that questioned it.

“Joshi dismissed our plea without hearing our line of argument. This prompted us to move the high court against the speaker’s decision. We have prayed before the court to disqualify the six BSP MLAS and pass an order that upholds justice and equality,” said Ashish Sharma, Dilawar’s lawyer.

The six are crucial to Gehlot, who commands a narrow majority in the 200-member assembly. He has the support of 101 legislators, excluding the speaker

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said Mayawati was taking these steps due to “certain compulsions”.

“If some leaders become helpless, they also tend to leave their ideology and also change their old stance,” he said.