BJP loses MLA in Madhya Pradesh

Bhopal : A major controversy is brewing over the disqualification of BJP legislator Prahlad Singh Lodhi in Madhya Pradesh.

A special court in Bhopal designated to deal with criminal cases against MLAs and MPs had convicted Lodhi and sentenced him to two years in jail for attacking a government official during in an illegal sand mining case in Panna district five years ago.

Speaker Narmada Prasad Prajapati on Saturday declared the Pawai seat vacant after the BJP legislator along with 12 others was convicted and sentenced for two years.

The Speaker said the disqualification and vacancy of seat were natural corollaries of the verdict as per the Supreme Court order of July 2013 which said MLAs, MLCs and MPs convicted and sentenced for two years or more in any criminal case lose their membership with immediate effect.