The Rajasthan BSP on Saturday issued a whip asking six MLAs who won as the party’s candidate but later joined the Congress to vote only for independent Subhash Chandra, who is in the fray for the June 10 Rajya Sabha elections. Issuing the whip, BSP state president Bhagwan Singh Baba said that the six MLAs had won their seats on the BSP’s symbol in the 2018 state elections and “are bound to act as per the party whip”.
“BSP does not agree with the policies of Congress and BJP, and hence opposes their candidates. The party has issued a whip and directed the MLAs to vote for an independent candidate. Rajendra Gudha, Lakhan Meena, Deepchand Kheria, Sandeep Yadav, Joginder Awana and Wajib Ali had won the 2018 assembly election as BSP candidates, but merged the BSP legislature party with the ruling Congress in September 2019.
The BSP’s petition challenging their merger is already pending in the Supreme Court. An expert on the legal validity of the whip claimed that the six legislators were not bound to go with the whip.
“All the MLAs of the legislature party had merged with the Congress and hence BSP has no role now,” the expert argued. An official of the assembly said that no information has been received so far regarding the whip issued by the BSP party. “After the merger in September 2019, they are Congress MLAs. However, the party has challenged this and the matter is under consideration.
On the other hand, the BSP state president said that the party may issue a whip as six had won the assembly elections in 2018 on the BSP’s symbol. “A petition of disqualification is pending in the Supreme Court and it is likely to be decided soon. In Rajasthan, the merger at the MLA level was illegal as the party was not merged at the national level. So, she is still our MLA and the party can issue a whip for her.”
He said the MLAs have to obey or violate the whip and if they violate, it will strengthen the BSP’s case in the Supreme Court. One of the six MLAs, Rajendra Gudha, who is a state minister, did not clarify his stand on the whip. Another MLA, Wajib Ali, said the whip was not valid.
“We (MLAs) believe that the whip is not valid as we are no longer members of the BSP. The Speaker of the Assembly has already approved the merger which is valid. However, it has been challenged and is under consideration.” Ali accused the BSP of trying to put pressure on it. He alleged that the party was acting like a puppet of the BJP.
Elections to four Rajya Sabha seats from Rajasthan will be held on June 10. The Congress has shifted several of its MLAs and independents to a hotel in Udaipur to protect them from any horse-trading attempts. Of the six Congress-turned-MLAs from the BSP, only one Joginder Awana is in the Udaipur camp.
State Minister Rajendra Gudha on Thursday expressed displeasure and said that the MLAs do not get due respect in the Congress. The Congress has fielded Mukul Wasnik, Randeep Surjewala and Pramod Tiwari, while the BJP has backed former minister Ghanshyam Tiwari and media baron Chandra, who filed nominations as an independent.
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