A member of BSP in the state legislative council, Hargovind Singh may soon lose his membership for violation of anti-defection law after the party’s leader in the council, Naseemuddin Siddiqui, moved a petition before the Chairman in this regard. Hargovind had joined BJP in Lucknow on February 3 while his legislative council membership term is scheduled to end on January 15 next year. He is reportedly planning to contest 2017 Assembly election on BJP ticket. While Siddiqui was not available for comment, BSP’s deputy leader in the House, Gopal Narain Misra confirmed that Chairman Ganesh Shankar Pandey has taken cognizance of the petition and has also informed other BSP MLCs in this regard. [related-post] Misra said that party leader and Leader of Opposition, Siddiqui moved the petition because Hargovind has violated anti-defection law by joining BJP in middle of his term. The Chairman may or may not seek reply from Hargovind before taking any decision, he added. Hargovind was not present in the House for the past two days of the ongoing budget session which begun on February 18. “As I have joined the BJP, there is no sense in sitting with BSP members in the House now,” Singh said. He also said that he has not received any notice from the party or Council so far, but he will not attend the House proceedings for the rest of his term. He also claimed that Siddiqui or no senior leader from the party approached him after he joined the BJP. After the joining, Hargovind had said that he quit BSP because certain leaders, including supremo Mayawati, were running the party like “dictators”. BSP had announced Hargovind as the party’s candidate from Faizabad Lok Sabha constituency in 2014 but decided against it later. Singh was later asked to file nomination against Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi from Amethi but he was again asked to withdraw his nomination at the last moment.
