Two Jharkhand MLAs Disqualified Under Anti-defection Law

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Ranchi: Jharkhand Assembly Speaker's Tribunal on Thursday disqualified two legislators under the anti-defection law with effect from July 26. 

The order disqualifying JMM's Lobin Hembrom and Congress's Jai Prakash Bhai Patel from the House came on the eve of the assembly’s six-day monsoon session beginning on Friday. 

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the BJP had initiated proceedings under the anti-defection law against Hembrom and Patel respectively in the Speaker's Tribunal. 

Hembrom contested independently from the Rajmahal Lok Sabha seat, challenging JMM’s official candidate, Vijay Hansdak. Patel, on the other hand, joined the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha polls and contested from Hazaribag seat. Both, however, were defeated in the elections. 

"Jai Prakash Bhai Patel has voluntarily given up the membership of his original political party BJP as is clear from the aforesaid facts and the circumstances and conduct of the honourable member," Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahto said. 

The Speaker also made a similar observation on JMM's Hembrom. 

Hence, Patel and Hembrom were disqualified from the fifth Jharkhand Legislative Assembly with effect from July 26, Mahto said. 

The JMM had earlier expelled Hembrom from the party for "working against the interest of the coalition" by filing nomination from the Rajmahal seat. 

According to the seat-sharing agreement in the ruling alliance in Jharkhand, the Rajmahal seat went to JMM, which had fielded its sitting MP Vijay Hansdak. 

Hembram, the Borio legislator, had contested from Rajmahal to protest against Hansdak's selection by the party. 

Responding to the development, Hembrom claimed that though the Speaker is "impartial", he did this under pressure. 

"Many have changed parties in the past but their cases pending for two years. What crime Lobin Hembrom had done? You give me notice at 3 pm and pronounce judgment at 4 pm," he said. 

Alleging that he was not given a chance to present his case, Hembrom said he would move court to seek justice. 

The disqualified claimed that the JMM-led alliance was afraid since he was emerging as a powerful leader and would raise issues of tribals in the assembly. 

"The people will question the chief minister about what happened to his promises of job and allowances to unemployed...land etc," he said. 

Leader of Opposition in Assembly Amar Kumar Bauri said it would have been better had Patl resigned himself. 

"We had initiated an anti-defection case. The Speaker's court has debarred his membership. It was bound to happen. We had lodged a complaint in March against him," Bauri said.