BJP cracks whip on 'sold' horses
The BJP expelled the eight Lok Sabha members who had either voted with the UPA or abstained, in the confidence vote on Tuesday.
By ET Bureau |
NEW DELHI: The BJP expelled the eight Lok Sabha members who had either voted with the UPA or abstained, in the confidence vote on Tuesday. The party has also filed a disqualification petition before the Speaker, making a case for the termination of their membership of the Lok Sabha.
In all eight MPs defied the party whip. Of these four���Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, Somabhai Patel, K Manjunath and HT Sangliana���were expelled for cross-voting. Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh who represented the Balrampur constituency joined the Samajwadi Party on Sunday, when he announced that he would vote with the government. Somabhai Patel, who had been suspended in December 2007 for anti-party activities, voted for the UPA.
Mr Patel had argued that since he was a suspended MP the party whip was not applicable on him. Unlike Vallabh Katheria, whose suspension was revoked ahead of the trust vote, the party had not revoked Somabhai���s suspension. Another four were expelled for abstaining from the vote. These are Manorama Madhwaraj, Chandrabhan Singh, Harising Rathod and Babubhai Katara. Party leaders said that though they were aware of some of the defections, it was the action by the Karnataka MPs that caught them unawares. The decision to expel the MPs was taken at a high-level meeting earlier in the day at a meeting at the residence of leader of opposition and senior BJP leader L K Advani.
Mr Advani said: ���I am in a position to say that if cross voting had not taken place, the UPA would not have won the trust vote���. The UPA government won the trust vote on Tuesday by 19 votes.
From Thursday, the BJP will organise protests across the country against UPA on ���corruption and degradation��� of democratic values of the country. BJP president Rajnath Singh also said that rallies would be organised in all state capitals on July 27 to protest the manner in which the UPA conducted itself during the trust vote.
TDP, JD(S) and BJP also expelled their errant MPs who switched sides on Tuesday during the trust vote.
In all eight MPs defied the party whip. Of these four���Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, Somabhai Patel, K Manjunath and HT Sangliana���were expelled for cross-voting. Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh who represented the Balrampur constituency joined the Samajwadi Party on Sunday, when he announced that he would vote with the government. Somabhai Patel, who had been suspended in December 2007 for anti-party activities, voted for the UPA.
Mr Patel had argued that since he was a suspended MP the party whip was not applicable on him. Unlike Vallabh Katheria, whose suspension was revoked ahead of the trust vote, the party had not revoked Somabhai���s suspension. Another four were expelled for abstaining from the vote. These are Manorama Madhwaraj, Chandrabhan Singh, Harising Rathod and Babubhai Katara. Party leaders said that though they were aware of some of the defections, it was the action by the Karnataka MPs that caught them unawares. The decision to expel the MPs was taken at a high-level meeting earlier in the day at a meeting at the residence of leader of opposition and senior BJP leader L K Advani.
Mr Advani said: ���I am in a position to say that if cross voting had not taken place, the UPA would not have won the trust vote���. The UPA government won the trust vote on Tuesday by 19 votes.
From Thursday, the BJP will organise protests across the country against UPA on ���corruption and degradation��� of democratic values of the country. BJP president Rajnath Singh also said that rallies would be organised in all state capitals on July 27 to protest the manner in which the UPA conducted itself during the trust vote.
TDP, JD(S) and BJP also expelled their errant MPs who switched sides on Tuesday during the trust vote.
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