The development came as a setback to the main Opposition RJD headed by Lalu Prasad with the party’s tally coming down to 79 from existing 80. The RJD which won 75 seats in the last assembly elections had reached to 80 after it won the Bochaha assembly by-polls held in April this year and then four of the five legislators belonging to All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) joined the party last month.
Photo: IANS
In a setback to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Anant Singh, a party legislator, lost his Bihar Assembly membership following his conviction and subsequent imprisonment for 10 years in a three-year-old criminal case.
A formal notification announcing his termination of membership was issued by the Bihar Assembly secretariat last evening.
“Anant Singh, MLA from Mokama, is disqualified from holding membership of the House following his conviction in a criminal case. Decision has been taken as per Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act,” reads an order issued by the Bihar assembly secretariat.
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The action comes a month after a local court had sentenced Singh to 10 years imprisonment for possessing AK-47 rifles and explosives. The arsenal was recovered during a raid conducted at his residence at his native village of Ladma in Patna’s Barh town, prompting the police to register a case against him. Singh represents Mokama seat in the state assembly.
The development came as a setback to the main Opposition RJD headed by Lalu Prasad with the party’s tally coming down to 79 from existing 80. The RJD which won 75 seats in the last assembly elections reached to 80 after it won the Bochaha assembly by-polls held in April this year and then four of the five legislators belonging to All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) joined the party last month.
However, Singh is not the lone lawmaker to lose his House membership for his misconduct. Prior to him, three other legislators, such as Raj Ballabh Yadav and Illyas Hussain, both from the RJD and BJP legislator Ram Naresh Yadav had been disqualified from the House for their indulgence in serious criminal acts.
While Raj Ballabh was disqualified for raping a minor girl, Hussain lost his membership after his conviction in bitumen scam. The BJP legislator Yadav, on the other hand, was disqualified after being sentenced to 10 years in jail in a case related to attack on a Collectorate office in Sitamarhi district and subsequent police firing which killed five villagers.
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