Expelled U'khand BJP MLA allocated separate seat in assembly

Khanpur MLA Kunwar Pranav Singh Champion, who was expelled by the BJP on grounds of indiscipline, was on Wednesday allocated a seat separate from those occupied by the ruling party MLAs in the Uttarakhand Assembly.

An announcement regarding this was made by Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker Prem Chandra Agrawal on the opening day of the winter session of the state assembly which began on Wednesday.

The Speaker said he was informed about Champion's expulsion from the party by Uttarakhand BJP president Ajay Bhatt through a letter on December 3.

Agarwal was informed about it on Wednesday once again through a letter by state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Madan Kaushik.

Taking cognisance of the two letters, a separate seat has been allocated to Champion in the assembly as he is no longer a BJP MLA, Agrawal said.

Champion, who often lands in controversies, was expelled from the BJP for six years in July this year after a video purportedly showing the legislator dancing brandishing guns and drinking liquor went viral causing much embarrassment to the party.

Before that, the Khanpur MLA had been suspended from the BJP for three months, barring him from participating in the organisational activities of the party.

Champion was among the nine Congress MLAs who had rebelled against then chief minister Harish Rawat in 2016 and joined the BJP.