The Trinamool Congress has demanded disqualification of Sunil Kumar Mondal, Lok Sabha MP from Bardhaman Purba, after he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Mr. Mondal was among a host of other TMC leaders who joined the BJP at Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s rally on December 19.
TMC parliamentary party leader Sudip Bandhopadhyay, in a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla invoked the provisions of para 2 (1) (a) of the 10th schedule of the Constitution and said that Mr. Mondal has voluntarily given up TMC membership.
The communication has been received at the office of Speaker on January 4.
The letter said, “Although, no express resignation has been received by the AITC from the said respondent, yet the conduct of the respondent in acting and participating in the rally is prejudicial and harmful to the interests of the AITC and it is evident that the respondent has given up membership of AITC.”
Mr. Bandhopadhyay pointed out that Mr. Mondal’s act makes it clear that he has voluntarily given up membership of AITC and joined BJP and that he is “liable to be disqualified from the membership of Lok Sabha...” This is the first occasion that the State’s ruling party has sought for a disqualification of a party lawmaker. Over half a dozen MLAs of the party have joined the BJP in the past few months.
