A day after being suspended from the Bahujan Samaj Party for abstaining from the trust vote in the Karnataka assembly, party’s lone MLA in the state, N Mahesh, on Wednesday cited “miscommunication” as the reason for the gaffe.
Mahesh said that he was surprised to know about the suspension order, as he was acting according to the directions of the high command.
“Party in-charge Ashok Siddharth told me to abstain from voting, be neutral and not support any party. That was the instruction given to me,” news agency ANI quoted Mahesh as saying.
“I haven’t violated Behenji’s (Mayawati’s) order,” Mahesh said.
The expelled MLA said that he was unaware of the suspension order as he was away from Bengaluru for a week. He hoped that he will be taken back once he has spoken to the party chief and clarified his position.
“It must have been a miscommunication. But it is a temporary thing, everything will be alright. I’ll be in BSP,” Mahesh said.
BSP chief Mayawati on Tuesday in a tweet had said that Mahesh was being suspended for indiscipline as he did not participate in the crucial trust vote, despite having clear instructions to vote in favour of the H.D. Kumaraswamy government.
कर्नाटक में कुमारस्वामी सरकार के समर्थन में वोट देने के पार्टी हाईकमान के निर्देश का उल्लंघन करके बीएसपी विधायक एन महेश आज विश्वास मत में अनुपस्थित रहे जो अनुशासनहीनता है जिसे पार्टी ने अति गंभीरता से लिया है और इसलिए श्री महेश को तत्काल प्रभाव से पार्टी से निष्कासित कर दिया गया।
— Mayawati (@Mayawati) July 23, 2019
Mayawati’s remarks came soon after the Congress-JD(S) government lost the trust vote on the floor of the state Assembly.
The vote of trust was conducted after the resignation of 16 MLAs of the ruling coalition plunging it to a minority.
While 105 MLAs voted against the government, 99 MLAs voted for the government in the 224 member Assembly.