BJP asks warring MLAs not to issue statements against each other

The UttarakhandBJP has asked two party MLAs locked in a verbal spatfor over a fortnight to stop inveghing against each other in public while the matter is being probed.

Athree-member committee set up by the party to look into the matter has, as a first step, asked the MLAs to keep quiet and not cause further embarrassment to the party while the inquiry is underway, Pradesh BJP media chiefDevendra Bhasin said on Sunday.

"Convener of the committee Khajan Das has categorically told the MLAs not to issue any statements against each other anymore and do nothing to breach party discipline or land the party in an uncomfortable situation," Bhasin said.

The committee may take at least5 days to complete the probe as several party leaders have gone to Himachal Pradesh for campaigning, Pradesh BJP president Ajay Bhatt said.

The party hastaken a very serious view of the matter and it will ensure that discipline is maintained within its ranks, he said.

BJP MLA from Khanpur Kunwar Pranav Singh Champion and the party's Jhabreda legislator Desraj Karnawal began casting aspersions on each other in public overa fortnight ago prompting Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat to intervene last week.

On Rawat's intervention they made it up with each other but the truce proved temporary as they resumed their fight only a few days later.

The trouble began after Karnawal cast doubts on Champion'seducational qualifications and his sports credentials. Champion hit back by challenging Karnawal to a wrestling bout at a stadium in Roorkee.

However, Karnawal did not show up for the bout, saying it was an era of guns and only someone who had lost his head could think of resolving a problem through a wrestling bout.