Resignation row may cost Meena MP seat

Rajasthan is witnessing a war of nerves and wit between Assembly Speaker Deependra Singh Shekhawat and newly elected MP and powerful....

Rajasthan is witnessing a war of nerves and wit between Assembly Speaker Deependra Singh Shekhawat and newly elected MP and powerful Meena leader Kirori Lal Meena. If the Speaker holds his ground,Meena could be disqualified as MP. At the root of this brewing controversy is the Constitutional provision that no person can be a member of both Parliament and House of the Legislature of a state. If a person who is elected to both fails to resign his seat in the Legislative Assembly within 14 days after being elected as MP from the date of publication in the Gazette of India of the declaration that he has been chosen as MP,his Parliament seat will fall vacant.

While Meena claims that he had sent his resignation from his Todabhim Assembly seat to the Speaker within 14 days after being elected,the Speaker maintains that he has received no such resignation letter,adding that traditionally the resignation is accepted only after the member hands over the letter to the Speaker personally. Meena,on the other hand,has no proof to validate his claims about submitting his resignation letter to the Speakers office.

I have no knowledge regarding his resignation. Officially,nothing has come to me. Anyway,as per tradition,he should have personally handed over the resignation letter to me. To me,he is still a member of the Legislative Assembly, Shekhawat told The Indian Express in New Delhi.

Meena vehemently countered the Speakers contention. As the Speaker was not in town,I could not meet him. My personal assistant had gone to hand over the resignation letter to the Speakers PS and PA. Our only fault was that we had not taken the receipt. But you never expected such a thing to happen. Otherwise,I would have certainly got the receipt. My PA had spoken to the Speakers PA on phone and there will be mobile records to prove it. Why else would my PA speak to the Speakers PA? I can prove that my PA had handed over the resignation letter. I can also prove that the Speaker was not in Jaipur and hence,I could not meet him personally, Meena told The Indian Express on phone.

Meena,who had quit Vasundhara Rajes cabinet during Gurjjar-Meena clashes in 2007,had unsuccessfully tried to court the Congress his wife Golma Devi joined the Ashok Gehlot-led state Government and successfully contested as an Independent candidate from Dausa.