BJP threatens dharna to expedite MLAs' ouster

Vijay Deo Jha/Anupam Rana Ranchi August 22, 2008

The Jharkhand BJP would stage a dharna in front of the Assembly on Friday in a bid to pressurise Assembly Speaker Alamgir Alam to take within 24 hours a final decision on the issue of the disqualification of MLAs whose cases have been pending with the Speaker for the last one-and-half year.

A delegation of party MLAs led by State BJP president Pashupati Nath Singh met the Speaker demanding him to resolve the matter within 24 hours failing which the party would stage a dharna. The party blamed the UPA for misusing the 10th Scheduled of the Constitution as an instrument to make or mar the Government. Jharkhand Vikash Morcha led by Babulal Marandi has also demanded an early decision on the disqualification of the MLAs.

Fearing a possible foul play and horse-trading during the confidence motion scheduled to be tabled by the Madhu Koda Government on August 25, the BJP wanted a permanent seal on the fate of these MLAs, including five suspended BJP MLAs, who could prove crucial in the numbers game.

The two suspended party MLAs including Vishnu Bhaiya and Manohar Tekriwal have already joined the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM). While a couple of another suspended party MLAs could also support JMM chief Shibu Soren to become the Chief Minister, fears by the party. While clarifying his stand, Alam said any decision on this matter would be taken after going through all the legal aspects.

However, he did not mention any time frame within which the decision could probably be taken. But he added that the House already completed five hearings of the cases of Pradeep Yadav, Ravindra Roy, Kunti Singh, Vishnu Bhaiya, Manohar Tekriwal and Bhanu Pratap Shahi which required one more hearing hence the decisions would be made very soon.

He also asserted that the House would not allow any manipulation and foul play during the trust vote. "On that day, the entire proceedings of the House would be telecast followed by the video recording in order to maintain transparency," he said. Meanwhile the State Congress criticised the BJP for playing pressure politics.

Alok Kumar Dubey, spokesperson, state Congress said the 24-hour ultimatum was absurd both politically and constitutionally, and blamed the BJP for besmirching the reputation of the chair of the Speaker. He questioned the reason behind silence of the BJP for such a long time and said that the cases of disqualification had been pending during the NDA rule in Jharkhand when Inder Singh Namdhari was the Speaker of the Assembly.

The NDA did take the decision on their disqualification at that time to save its Government which was running with the support of these independent MLAs. While countering the claim of the Congress, former Speaker Namdhari termed the allegation as bogus and said he had already passed verdict on the case of disqualification filed by Kamlakant against Deputy Chief Minister Stephen Marandi.

Regarding the disqualification of Enos Ekka, Namdhari asserted that he had already completed the hearing and the present incumbent needed to pronounce the judgment. "No case remained pending during my tenure," he said. He warned that the way the decision on such matters was delayed due to political reasons it has already prompted the judiciary to inter into the arena of Speaker's jurisdiction.