Cong stages protests across Guj against MLA's disqualification

Congress workers staged protests across Gujarat on Wednesday against disqualification of party lawmaker Bhagvan Barad as an MLA and demanded revocation of the Assembly Speaker's order against him.

They also threatened to step up their protests in the coming days if their demand was not met.

The opposition party workers shouted slogans against the ruling BJP in various districts, including Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Vadodara and Bhavnagar, and submitted memorandum to collectors there demanding revocation of Barad's disqualification.

Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi on Tuesday said Barad was disqualified as an MLA after a court in Gir-Somnath district awarded him a jail term of two years and nine months in a 24-year-old case of illegal mining.

He was found guilty under Indian Penal Code Section 379 (theft) and also fined Rs 2,500.

The 60-year-old Congress leader won from Talala seat in Gir-Somnath in the 2017 Assembly polls.

Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Paresh Dhanani claimed Barad's disqualification was "politically motivated" and that he was granted bail within hours of his sentencing on March 1.

The Gir-Somnath court also allowed him to appeal against the sentence in the Gujarat High Court within 30 days, he said.

Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar alleged that the BJP saved its Lok Sabha member from Amreli, Naran Kachhadiya, from disqualification even after he was awarded three years' imprisonment by a court in 2016.

"The BJP has acted unconstitutionally by removing an elected representative on the pretext of a Supreme Court order despite the (local) court giving him an opportunity to appeal against the sentence in the high court. To protest this, the Congress submitted memorandum to collectors across the state," Parmar told reporters here.

Parmar, who is an MLA from Danilimda seat in Ahmedabad, along with his supporters submitted the memorandum to the district collector here.

He said a Congress delegation will soon submit a memorandum to Governor O P Kohli against the BJP government's "unconstitutional" move.

"We would like to ask the BJP why it allowed its MP Naran Kachhadiya to approach the high court against his sentencing, and not our MLA Barad?" he asked.

Kachhadiya was awarded three years' imprisonment by a court in Amreli in a case on assault on a doctor working at a government hospital.

Speaker Rajendra Trivedi on Tuesday told mediapersons that Barad stood "automatically disqualified" after being sentenced for two years and nine months rigorous imprisonment in the illegal mining case.

While the Congress alleged that Trivedi was acting in a partisan manner, the speaker said he was "acting as per the Constitution and the Supreme Court order in Lily Thomas matter".

The apex court had in its 2013 order said a lawmaker awarded a minimum of two-year imprisonment loses membership of the House with immediate effect.

"No speaker can misuse the power conferred to him under the Constitution. Whether the MLA is from BJP, Congress or an Independent, action will be taken against him as per rule. The rule does not apply to the MLA if he has been sentenced before the Supreme Court order," Trivedi told reporters in Vadodara.

"But if an MLA is sentenced after the Supreme Court order, he stands automatically disqualified. The order applies directly against Barad," he said.