Patna: The opposition parties on Sunday demanded disqualification of newly elected Independent MLCs Bansidhar Brajwasi and Rahul Raj under the anti-defection law, a day after they publicly announced joining the ruling BJP.The political storm erupted after Brajwasi, who recently retained the Tirhut graduates’ seat, and Raj, a BJP rebel who won the Saran teachers’ constituency, attended a BJP legislature party meeting in Patna on Saturday. The duo was photographed holding BJP membership slips with saffron ‘gamchas’ featuring the lotus symbol around their necks. Raj told reporters that while he contested as an Independent due to alliance compulsions, he had officially retaken BJP membership.Both Brajwasi and Raj won the recent council election, defeating BJP ally JD(U) in their respective constituencies.Leader of opposition in state assembly, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, in a written statement, slammed BJP for “making a mockery of the Constitution”. He said that under Paragraph 2(2) of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, an independently elected member faced automatic disqualification if they joined a political party post-election.“Article 191(2) clarifies that any member disqualified under the Tenth Schedule ceases to be a member of the state legislature. Under Paragraph 6(1), the authority to decide this lies entirely with the chairperson of the legislative council,” Yadav said.Echoing his stance, RJD’s Rajya Sabha member and national spokesperson Manoj Kumar Jha, while addressing a news conference here, announced that a RJD delegation would formally petition the council chairperson and approach the courts over the issue.Meanwhile, the Congress party used the development to target the ruling NDA. Pointing out that JD(U) had lost both the Tirhut and Saran seats, Congress spokesperson Asit Nath Tiwari claimed the episode was a clear case of BJP “backstabbing its coalition partner”.In the recent biennial polls for eight legislative council seats, BJP and JD(U) contested four seats each; BJP secured two wins, while JD(U) managed only one.Facing intense flak, BJP quickly shifted to damage control on Sunday, attempting to reframe the crossover. BJP spokesperson Kuntal Krishna and MLA Manoj Sharma issued video statements asserting that the two MLCs had not formally joined but had merely “extended support” to govt out of trust in Prime Minister Narendra Modi, chief minister Samrat Choudhary, and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar.
