Haryana Congress again seeks disqualification of Kiran Choudhry from Assembly

Chandigarh : The Haryana Congress on Tuesday again wrote to the Assembly Speaker seeking the disqualification of party rebel Kiran Choudhry as a member of the Vidhan Sabha.

Kiran Choudhry and her daughter Shruti Choudhry joined the BJP in Delhi last week.

In a communication addressed to Speaker Gian Chand Gupta, Deputy Leader of Congress Legislature Party (CLP), Aftab Ahmed, and CLP chief whip, B.B. Batra, said Kiran Choudhry had been elected as MLA of the Congress from Tosham in Bhiwani after the assembly polls in 2019.

“In pursuance to our earlier letter dated June 19... We write to you today with a sense of urgency and unwavering commitment to uphold the sanctity of our democratic processes,” they wrote.

“The matter of disqualification of Smt. Kiran Choudhry, a Member of the Legislative Assembly from Tosham constituency, Bhiwani district, who has recently resigned from the Indian National Congress and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) needs to be addressed and requires immediate action mandated by the Constitution of India.”

Quoting paragraph of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, they said any member of a House who voluntarily gives up their membership of a political party is liable to be disqualified.

“Smt. Kiran Choudhry's actions fall squarely within this provision, necessitating immediate disqualification to maintain the integrity of our legislative process.”

They said the role of the Speaker is not just administrative but profoundly constitutional. The anti-defection law is designed to prevent political instability and ensure ethical governance. As the guardian of legislative propriety, it is the Speaker's duty to act decisively and without bias to enforce the disqualification provisions of the Tenth Schedule.

“The Tenth Schedule empowers the Speaker to act suo motu upon awareness of any member's voluntary relinquishment of party membership,” said the letter.

Both Kiran and her daughter Shruti Choudhry had resigned from the primary membership of the Congress, saying the state unit of the party was being run as a “personal fiefdom”, indirectly referring to former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda.