Babulal Marandi’s plea to bar six Jharkhand MLAs scrapped

RANCHI: In a major blow to former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi’s Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM), Assembly Speaker Dinesh Oraon on Wednesday dismissed a petition seeking disqualification of six MLAs who allegedly defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2015. 

JVM chief Marandi and Legislative party leader Pradeep Yadav had filed a petition with Oraon seeking action against these MLAs under the 10th schedule of the Indian Constitution. 

The six MLAs, who were declared winners on a JVM ticket and reportedly jumped ship are, Naveen Jaiswal, Randhir Kumar Singh, Janaki Yadav, Alok Chaurasia, Ganesh Ganjhu and Amar Kumar Bauri. 
Marandi had filed the petition after the six wrote a letter to Oraon on February 9, 2015, requesting him to allot separate seats with the ruling party in the House as they merged with the BJP along with 2/3rd of the JVM’s members. On February 20, 2015, the BJP formally inducted all the six MLAs to the party at Jharkhand Bhawan in New Delhi in presence of Chief Minister Raghubar Das. 

After the subsequent hearing on the petition, Oraon said he found that their merger with the BJP was in accordance with the law and hence rejected Marandi’s petition. 

Both the parties were given adequate time to prove their points before the tribunal in the open court and the decision was kept reserved on December 12, 2018, Oraon said while announcing his decision. 
BJP’s Vinod Kumar Sahu confirmed the dismissal of the petition.  Our point was that if any kind of defection or merger takes place with 2/3rd of majority, it is lawful under 10th Schedule of Indian Constitution, he added. 

“Six of the 8 MLAs of JVM merged with the BJP, which is much more than 2/3rd and hence, it is lawful,” he said.  

JVM’s counsel Rajnanadan Sahay, however, said the party may approach the High Court after going through the copy of the order. 

These six MLAs helped the BJP provide the state’s first stable government since it came into being in 2000.