CHANDIGARH: Speaker of Punjab assembly Rana KP Singh on Tuesday disqualified Jaito MLA Baldev Singh for defecting from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Rebelling against AAP, Baldev Singh had joined Punjabi Ekta Party floated by ex-MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to unsuccessfully contest from Faridkot, only to return to the AAP fold in October 2019.
An official statement said that the speaker has disqualified Baldev Singh Kalyan, MLA elected from Jaito (SC) Assembly constituency of Punjab, from the membership of the Punjab Legislative Assembly with effect from October 26, 2021, as per the provisions of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution of India.
Meanwhile, similar petitions against three other MLAs - Amarjit Singh Sandoa, Nazar Singh and Khaira are still pending. While Sandoa had returned to AAP after switching over to Congress, Nazar Singh and Khaira continue to be in the Congress. The Speaker has, however, accepted the resignation tendered by Khaira submitted while joining the Congress.
Khaira, 2 other AAP MLAs resigned
AAP had won 20 seats in 2017 assembly polls, but HS Phoolka later resigned. Apart from Khaira, two other AAP rebel MLAs, Pirmal Singh (Bhadaur) and Jagdev Singh Kamalu (Maur) had joined the ruling Congress on June 3 and all three had resigned from the Vidhan Sabha.
Baldev Singh was liable for disqualification under Clause 2 (1) (a) of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, which states that a member of a House belonging to a political party shall be disqualified if he has voluntarily given up membership of such political party.
Petitions seeking Baldev Singh’s disqualification were filed by a lawyer from Jalandhar and a voter from his constituency.
