INDIA gets a surprise in Bihar too: 3 MLAs surface in Treasury ranks, strike at Cong’s Dalit base

A stunned RJD and Congress said they would lodge complaints with the Speaker to initiate proceedings against the three under the anti-defection law. However, party leaders expressed apprehension that the Speaker may choose to treat the three as a “separate group”.

While Gautam is the MLA from Chenari reserved seat and a former minister, Saurabh is a legislator from Bikram, and Sangeeta Kumari an MLA from the Mohania (SC reserved) seat.

RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari told The Indian Express: “This is a blatant violation of rules. No MLA can cross over like this.”

Tiwari added that he hoped the Speaker does not accept the three MLAs as a separate group, but “acts impartially as per the decorum of his chair and treats them as defectors”.

Congress spokesperson Asit Nath Tiwari accused the BJP of misusing its powers. “This is not a good precedent. How can MLAs cross over from the Opposition to Treasury Benches like this? Let us see how the Speaker responds to our complaints.”

Senior BJP leader and Deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha, however, defended the move of the three MLAs, saying: “The Opposition is rudderless. Its leader (Tejashwi Yadav) is not coming to the Vidhan Sabha but roaming the fields (the RJD leader is on a yatra). If they are not able to hold back their MLAs, it is their fault, not ours. Since the BJP has a strong leadership in the form of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several Opposition MLAs are drawing close to us.”

The development comes days after Tejashwi joined Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra as it passed through Bihar. On March 3, Rahul is to join RJD chief Lalu Prasad and CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury in what has been billed as the INDIA bloc’s first rally in Bihar.

The three MLAs

Murari Prasad Gautam: The 43-year-old is a former Panchayati Raj minister and second-time MLA of the Congress from the reserved Chenari seat. His father Mahendra Ram was a staunch loyalist of former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, who is believed to have pushed for Gautam to get a ticket from Chenari in 2009 after the Congress’s sitting MLA, Lalan Paswan, crossed over to the JD(U). Should Gautam move to the BJP, it could help the party’s bid to split the Dalit vote base of the Congress in Rohtas.

Siddharth Saurabh: Also 43, the second-time MLA from Bikram in Patna has long been seen as a rebel in the making. He was among the three Congress MLAs who had absented themselves when the party moved its legislators to Hyderabad before the Nitish Kumar trust vote on February 9. The son of a well-known doctor, and an upper caste Bhumihar leader, Saurabh has several cases pending against him as per his election affidavit.

Sangeeta Kumari: The 39-year-old is a first-time MLA, elected from the Mohania (SC) seat. The political connections of her father Shanker Ram, a radio announcer, are believed to have helped Sangeeta get an RJD ticket. Again, her joining the BJP would help the party’s strategy to win over Dalit leaders in the Bihar-Uttar Pradesh border seats of Rohtas and Kaimur.