HC junks BJP MLA’s plea over merger of Rajasthan BSP with Congress

JAIPUR/LUCKNOW: The Rajasthan high court on Monday dismissed BJP MLA Madan Dilawar’s petition that sought direction for speaker CP Joshi to decide on the MLA’s his long-pending complaint against the merger of BSP and Congress in the state. Dilawar had filed the complaint in March.
A few hours later, BJP decided to file a fresh petition in the high court challenging the merger. BSP, which had reached the court on Monday to be a party to the case, may also file a fresh petition either before the high court or the Supreme Court.
Earlier, the single bench of Justice Mahendar Kumar Goyal dismissed Dilawar’s petition as “infructuous” after additional advocate general RP Singh informed the court that the Speaker had already decided on the BJP MLA’s complaint on July 24. Senior counsel Harish Salve represented the BJP MLA.
On Sunday, BSP general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra had issued a whip to the six party MLAs in Rajasthan, saying that they should not support the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in case of a no-confidence motion.
All six had joined Congress in September 2019, a move that was upheld by the Rajasthan Speaker. Experts say that such whips are pointless since the Speaker has already ruled that the merger is permissible, unless BSP seeks judicial recourse in the matter