The Congress today defended its decision to abstain during voting for the UP bypoll, saying the Opposition should have consulted the party on its candidate if it wanted support.Congress spokesman Satyavrat Chaturvedi described the party’s move as a ‘‘strategy keeping our larger interests in mind’’. Asked why the Congress helped the BSP-BJP, he said the decision had not materially changed the situation in UP.In Lucknow, rebel BJP legislators today challenged the petition seeking their disqualification from the House.In a reply submitted to Speaker Kesri Nath Tripathi, the rebels said the petition was filed without proper verification and that ‘‘sweeping allegations’’ had been made against 10 MLAs in a single petition, which was ‘‘not maintainable’’.Tripathi asked the petitioner, BJP leader Lalji Tandon, to reply to the objections raised by November 26. Arguments on the maintainability of the petition will be heard at Tripathi’s chamber on November 30. The rebel MLAs have obtained the Speaker’s permission that their lawyers would also argue on their behalf.
