Team Herald
PANJIM: The Goa Pradesh Congress Committee is preparing to file a disqualification petition against its rebel former MLA Vishwajit Rane before the Speaker, post his election- which is scheduled on Wednesday.
It may be recalled that during the crucial floor test in the Assembly on March 16, Rane, who was elected from the Valpoi constituency, abstained from voting, leaving the House immediately after being administered oath by the pro-tem Speaker Siddharth Kuncalienkar, reducing the Congress’ strength to 16 MLAs and House to 39 members.
Post-floor test, Rane resigned as MLA as well as from the Congress party. The former health minister has announced to re-contest the polls, while there are strong speculations of him joining the ruling BJP.
“We had sought the advice of senior Congress functionaries like Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Singhvi. A legal opinion was also sought in a bid to strengthen our case. Accordingly, we have prepared the petition and the same would be filed before the Speaker,” CLP leader Chandrakant Kavalekar said.
“We will file the disqualification petition immediately after the Speaker is elected,” he said. The election to the Speaker’s post is scheduled on Wednesday.
Kavalekar, who accused junior Rane of being a BJP spy, reiterated that Rane had signed the whip which was issued before the floor test.
“A breach of whip amounts to disqualification,” he stated, admitting that the CLP failed to file the disqualification petition soon after the floor test, as it never imagined such drastic step by Rane.
As per the Article 191 of the Constitution, amongst the various grounds for disqualification of sitting MLAs, one includes an instance wherein the MLA in question defies the party whip. If the MLA is proven guilty, then he attracts disqualification and is debarred from contesting polls for the next six years.
Former Law Commissioner Ramakant Khalap has already expressed that there is little scope for disqualification now, considering that the MLA had tendered his resignation before the disqualification petition – which is yet to be filed.
