UPA to move SC against Jharkhand MLAs

The UPA said Enos Ekka and Kamlesh Kumar Singh defied their party leaderships order to support the combine in the trust vote.

The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in Jharkhand on Tuesday said it would move the Supreme Court to disqualify two legislators who defied their party leaderships order to support the combine in the trust vote.

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The two are Enos Ekka of the Jharkhand Party (JP) and Kamlesh Kumar Singh of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

"We will move the Supreme Court with a plea to disqualify the two legislators," Stephen Marandi, Deputy Chief Minister in the short-lived Shibu Soren government said.

The petition would be filed in the apex court on Wednesday.

The UPA had raised the issue of their disqualification when the election of the speaker took place earlier on Tuesday. Inder Singh Namdhari of the NDA who was finally chosen speaker said: "UPA had raised the issue at a wrong time."

NCP's Singh was minister in the Soren Government and was also appointed minister in the Munda Government on Saturday but did not take the oath citing health reasons. He was also absent from the house on Tuesday when Munda sought a vote of confidence from the house. His NCP had issued a whip to him to support the UPA.

And Ekka voted for the NDA despite the Jharkhand Party supporting the UPA, Marandi said.

Jharkhand Party president NE Horo, who had written to Governor Syed Sibtey Razi about the party's decision to support the UPA, was removed from the post. The new president extended the party support to the NDA.