The JD(U) has sought withdrawal of its request seeking disqualification of three of its lok Sabha MPs. In a letter to lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, JD(U) deputy leader Ranjan Prasad Yadav said he would not like to press the petition “further” and it may be “treated as withdrawn”.
The Bihar based party had sought disqualification of Rajiv Ranjan Singh ‘lalan’, Sushil Singh and Mangni lal Mandal for involvement in anti-party activities and the matter was referred to the Privileges Committee of the lower House.
On Tuesday, Committee chairman PC Chacko informed the panel about the development that comes against the backdrop of the JD(U) breaking ties with the BJP. Chacko told the Committee that since the Speaker is the final authority on deciding on such matters, he would consult her before moving ahead in light of the letter by JD(U), sources said. The copy of the letter was also marked to Chacko who circulated it to the members.
The letter was written to the Speaker on June 22, two days after the committee took up the issue in its meeting where Yadav’s demand seeking more time to appear before it on the issue was discussed.
BJP members like Ananth Kumar and Shahnawaz Hussain, and B Mahtab of BJD are learnt to have suggested that Yadav should appear before the committee to explain why he was withdrawing the petition.
Some members claimed that the BJP demanded that the panel should go ahead with the case as the matter was referred to it by the Speaker and the letter by Yadav to Kumar should have no bearing on the case. “The Speaker had asked the Committee to go into the merits of the case. Therefore, the Committee should go ahead and give its preliminary report to help the Speaker take a decision,” a member said after the meeting.