Panaji: The Congress party today filed disqualification petition against its ten former MLAs before State Legislative Assembly Speaker Rajesh Patnekar.
Disqualification petition has been filed against Deputy Speaker and Canacona MLA Isidor Fernandes, Deputy Chief Minister and Quepem MLA Chandrakant Kavlekar, WRD Minister and Velim MLA Filipe Neri Rodrigues, Revenue Minister and Taleigao MLA Jennifer Monserratte, Panjim MLA Atanasio Monserratte, Cuncolim MLA Clafasio Dias, Nuvem MLA Wilfred D’Sa and Thivim MLA Nilkant Halarnkar.
All the ten MLAs had merged Congress legislative wing with BJP, last month.
Congress President Girish Chodankar has urged Speaker to disqualify all the ten MLAs as Members of State Legislative Assembly terming the merger as illegal.
He has also demanded that pending hearing and final disposal of the matter, the respondents be restrained from functions as Member of the House and holding any constitutional post or office of profit.
Chodankar said that the action of respondents, does not amount to a valid merger of political party on account of the fact that a merger could only be of a political party with any other political party.
“The legislature party of a political party by itself had no authority or power to merge with any other political party, without the merger of its original political party,” he mentioned adding that even if two-third legislators of legislative party had agreed to merge, in law there cannot be any merger without merger of the original Political party.
