The changed political equations between erstwhile allies BJP and JD(U) was on full display on Thursday during the meeting of the lok Sabha’s Privileges Committee.
With the agenda regarding the JD(U) petition to disqualify three of its lok Sabha MPs — Rajiv Ranjan Singh ‘lalan’, Sushil Singh and Mangni lal Mandal — pending for months with the Parliamentary panel, BJP MPs on the committee demanded an early decision on the issue.
Committee chief PC Chacko informed members that the petitioner JD(U) deputy leader in the lower house Ranjan Prasad Yadav has sought more time on going ahead with the plea to disqualify the members under Schedule X of Disqualification Act.
Sources said that the BJP members Shahnawaz Hussain and Ananth Kumar expressed displeasure over the JD (U)’s failure to make up its mind on the issue. They told Chacko that Yadav be asked to appear before the panel and inform whether his party wants to press for the disqualification, sources added.
They maintained that due to the continuous postponement of agenda, the fate of the three “poor” MPs was hanging in the balance and there is no “forward movement” on the issue. Some members claimed that BJP pressed for moving ahead with the issue based on documents despite Yadav seeking more time to appear before the panel.
But BJP members insisted that they did not press for going ahead and had only demanded calling Yadav to “take forward” the issue. Some members of the committee took a dig at BJP members for raising the issue after JD(U) parted ways with it last week.
BJD member in the committee, B Mahtab read out the rules to BJP members which state that the petitioner should be given “affordable time” to present his case. He told BJP members not to press for an early decision. Subsequently, Chacko accepted Yadav’s plea for more time and postponed the matter.