Last month, the BSP had gone to the Election Commission with the request that the six MLAs be ordered to follow its whip rather than vote as Congress members in the Rajya Sabha election.
New Delhi, July 15:
As Congress tries to consolidate its tally in Rajasthan for the possibility that Sachin Pilot’s revolt forces a floor test, Uttar Pradesh politician Mayawati’s BSP may be a spoiler.
Six MLAs of the BSP or Bahujan Samaj Party joined the Rajasthan Congress in September last year, taking the tally of the state’s ruling party to 106. The party may go to the court to stop the MLAs from voting with the Congress, sources say, adding that it may decide later today.
Last month, the BSP had gone to the Election Commission with the request that the six MLAs be ordered to follow its whip rather than vote as Congress members in the Rajya Sabha election.
“You are humbly requested to issue appropriate directions to the returning officer at Jaipur and all other officers to ensure that these six BSP MLAs are not allowed to participate in voting as Congress MLAs and instead arrangement of voting should be made by treating them as BSP MLAs only who are bound by the BSP whip alone,” Mayawati’s party wrote to the panel.
The powerful election body had then refused to intervene.
The Rajasthan Speaker’s office said the BSP MLAs had merged their legislative party unit with the Congress and it was notified.
Sources say the BSP may go to the court with a similar request amid the turmoil in the Rajasthan Congress government and the intense race for numbers.
The party, say sources, believes that the assembly Speaker should consult it before deciding the status of the six MLAs.
The MLAs switched camps just a day after Mayawati hit out at the Congress and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra over infant deaths at a hospital in Kota, Rajasthan.
Mayawati posted a series of furious tweets accusing the Congress of buying her MLAs and betraying her when she had offered unconditional support in 2018, when Congress barely made half-way mark.
Since then, Mayawati’s attacks on Congress have been increasingly acrimonious.
