Trust vote: Speaker disqualifies Sangliana, Prasad from LS

Speaker disqualifies H T Sangliana and Ramswaroop Prasad from the LS under anti-defection provisions of the Constitution.

Expelled BJP member H T Sangliana and rebel JD(U) leader Ramswaroop Prasad, who voted in favour of the UPA government in the July 22 confidence motion, were on Tuesday disqualified from the Lok Sabha under anti-defection provisions of the Constitution.

Sangliana, who had got elected on a BJP ticket from Bangalore North and Prasad, who represented Nalanda in Bihar, had defied their party whips in the crucial vote.

Sangliana and Prasad were disqualified from the membership of the Lok Sabha by Speaker Somnath Chatterjee under the Tenth Schedule of Constitution, a Lok Sabha Secretariat statement said.

A former Bangalore Police Commissioner and first time MP, Sangliana had supported the government in the confidence motion despite a whip issued by his party BJP to vote against the UPA.

He was expelled from the BJP the very next day after the trust vote.

Prasad too was expelled from the JD(U) for defying the party directive and backing the UPA government.

At least 10 NDA MPs had cross-voted during the motion in which the government emerged victorious by bagging support of 275 members against 256 for the opposition in the House with an effective strength of 541.

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The trust vote was necessitated after the Left Parties, who had 59 members in the Lower House, withdrew support to the government to protest against the Indo-US nuclear deal.