Congress MLA in Manipur faces disqualification

Manipur speaker Y. Khemchand told the assembly on Wednesday that a notice has been received seeking disqualification of T. Shyamkumar, who was elected on a Congress ticket.

Shyamkumar was elected from Andro seat on the Congress ticket in the March assembly elections but he shifted his allegiance to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) post-polls.

Khemchand said: "The notice is under process". The speaker was replying to K. Meghachandra of the Congress who raised the issue in the assembly on Wednesday.

Meghachandra said: "Ten MLAs had submitted a notice seeking disqualification of Shyamkumar. Everybody knows that he had defected."

"It must be first in the country for an MLA who was elected on a party's ticket thus became a minister of another party. There has been no response from the speaker," he said.

Reacting to news reports on his defection, Shyamkumar had said though he was elected on the Congress ticket, he had resigned. However he did not elaborate.

Meghachandra said: "Though people know that he had crossed the floor, the details are not known as yet."

The support of Shyamkumar was crucial since the BJP, which had secured 21 seats in the 60-member assembly managed to claim the support of 32 MLAs. The strength of the Congress, the single largest party, was whittled from 28 to 27.

T.N. Haokip, Manipur Congress President, told IANS that Shyamkumar joining the BJP to become a minister was without the knowledge and approval of the party.

"He has been expelled for six years," Haokip added.

--IANS

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