Pradeep, Bandhu meet Cong leaders in Delhi over membership status
MARANDI, YADAV AND TIRKEY ARE STILL TREATED AS JVM(P) LEGISLATORS IN THE ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS
RANCHI: Pradeep Yadav and Bandhu Tirkey, the two JVM(P) legislators who had later joined the Congress, met general secretary (organization) KC Venugopal in New Delhi on Monday and urged the central leadership to intervene and ensure that the matter of their switching party being heard by the assembly speaker is disposed of at the earliest.
The two legislators have been camping in the national capital for the past few days, meeting senior Congress leaders, Jharkhand Congress in-charge RPN Singh.
The two leaders rushed to Delhi after the state Congress leadership told them it was prerogative of the Speaker to conduct hearing in a matter related to anti-defection law.
“We discussed the issue of our membership with him, besides measures to strengthen the party organization in the state. Going by the approach of the central leaders, we are hopeful our case will be settled at the earliest,” Tirkey said on phone from New Delhi.
Five-term legislator Pradeep Yadav and three-term legislator Bandhu Tirkey had joined the Congress after spilt in the JVM
(P) as its president Babulal Marandi declared to have merged the party with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) within months after the assembly elections in December 2019. The BJP made Marandi its legislature party leader.
While the election commission recognized the JVM(P)’s merger with the BJP, separate complaints were filed with the assembly speaker Rabindranath Mahto, seeking disqualification of Marandi as well as the two legislators who joined the Congress under the anti-defection law.
The matter is being heard ever since by Speaker Mahto, who is from the senior ally JMM in the three-party coalition government.
Marandi, Yadav and Tirkey are still treated as JVM(P) legislators in the assembly proceedings, including sitting arrangement.
Citing the example from the previous government, a Congress leader said the then Speaker Dinesh Oraon had approved BJP membership for six JVM(P) legislators who broke away from the party and joined the BJP after the 2014 assembly polls.
While raising the issue last week before the state leadership, Tirkey had also suggested that if the Speaker was taking time in deciding on the issue, they are willing to resign and contest again if the Congress leadership could assure them of party tickets.