Rae Bareli MLA Aditi Singh. (Express File Photo: Vishal Srivastav)
Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha Speaker Hriday Narayan Dixit has rejected two petitions by the Congress, seeking to disqualify the membership of the party’s rebel MLAs from Rae Bareli on grounds of “anti-party activity” under the anti-defection law.
The Speaker rejected the petitions against Rae Bareli City legislator Aditi Singh and Harchandpur MLA Rakesh Singh, saying that they were not found to have any strength to be considered under the “10th Schedule of the Constitution” and thus cannot be considered under the anti-defection law.
Aditi Singh was served notices by the Congress for participating in a special session convened on October 2 to discuss the UN millennium development goals despite the party’s decision to boycott the same.
The disqualification clause did not apply in her case as she did not defy any party whip and only spoke on an “issue of public interest”, sources said.
Congress had sought Rakesh Singh’s disqualification on the ground that he had campaigned for his brother Dinesh Singh, who had contested the Lok Sabha election against Sonia Gandhi from Rae Bareli. However, it was found that the Congress could not present any strong evidence to back its allegations, sources said.