Chandigarh, April 25 The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Saturday described Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s decision to seek an appointment with the President to recall party Rajya Sabha MPs who had joined the BJP as political theatre and reminded him that under the 10th schedule of the Constitution, taking action against MPs was Parliament’s domain and not the President’s discretion.
In a statement here, senior party leader Daljit Singh Cheema said the anti-defection law was clear that in case two-thirds of members of a particular party merged with another, no action could be taken against them.
Telling the Chief Minister that he had no right to take any high moral ground on this issue, Cheema reminded him that he had approved the defection of one out of the three MLAs of SAD into AAP and even made the legislator the Chairman of a public sector undertaking.
The Akali Dal leader said before seeking remedies that did not exist constitutionally, AAP should explain why it had nominated ultra-wealthy outsiders to the Rajya Sabha instead of genuine “aam aadmi” representatives of Punjab? “The people also deserve clarity that if accountability is the principle, do citizens have the right to recall MLAs who have failed them or is your accountability selective?” Cheema asked.
Asserting that instead of resorting to symbolic petitions in Delhi, AAP should face the people of Punjab. “If the party truly believes in democratic morality, it should go to the Lok Bhawan, Punjab, and request the Governor for a fresh mandate. Only that and not constitutional posturing will restore public trust in the party,” he added.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has sought time to meet President Droupadi Murmu along with his party’s MLAs to present his stance on the recall of seven Rajya Sabha members who have joined the BJP.
This development comes a day after seven AAP Rajya Sabha members -- Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, cricketer Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Swati Maliwal and Vikramjit Sahney -- announced their decision to quit the AAP and join the BJP.
Except for Swati Maliwal, six other MPs represent Punjab in the Upper House.
Since seven out of 10 AAP Rajya Sabha MPs have jumped ship together with a strength of two-thirds, none of them is expected to attract disqualification under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, commonly known as the anti-defection law.
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