Punjab assembly speaker disqualifies Jaitu legislator Baldev Singh

Punjab assembly speaker Rana KP Singh on Tuesday disqualified Aam Aadmi Party legislator from Jaitu, Baldev Singh, from the membership of the state assembly

Punjab Vidhan Sabha speaker Rana KP Singh on Tuesday disqualified Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Jaitu, Baldev Singh, from the membership of the state assembly.

Jaitu legislator Baldev Singh was disqualified from membership of the state assembly by Punjab speaker as he had voluntarily left the party ( AAP in this case) on whose ticket he was elected. (HTphoto)

Baldev Singh has been disqualified with effect from October 26 as per provisions of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, a statement from the Vidhan Sabha said. The first-time MLA had voluntarily left the party on whose ticket he was elected. As per the Tenth Schedule included in the Constitution in 1985 and popularly known as the anti-defection law, a member can be disqualified if he or she voluntarily gives up the membership of a party.

The Jaitu MLA had resigned from AAP on January 16, 2019, in protest against Bholath MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira’s unceremonious removal from the post of leader of the opposition, accusing the party’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal of “dictatorial, arrogant and autocratic style of functioning”. He later joined Khaira’s Punjab Ekta Party (PEP) and contested the May 2019 Lok Sabha election from Faridkot seat on its ticket and polled just 4.51% votes, forfeiting his security deposit.

A few months later, he returned to the AAP fold after a meeting with state unit president Bhagwant Mann on October 16, saying he realised that the party was the only alternative for Punjab and Punjabis. He was among seven AAP legislators who had turned rebel in 2019. Khaira, whose resignation from the assembly after he joined the Congress was accepted by the speaker last week, and two other AAP rebel MLAs are also facing proceedings under the anti-defection law.