Two BJD MLAs disqualified after quitting party

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Assembly Speaker Pramila Mallik on Thursday disqualified two BJD MLAs as members of the House under the Anti-Defection Law. The two MLAs, Arabinda Dhali and Premananda Nayak, had resigned from the BJD and joined the BJP ahead of the elections.

The Assembly seats of Jaydev in Khurda district and Telkoi in Keonjhar district, represented by Dhali and Nayak, respectively, fell vacant following the disqualification of the two members, the Assembly secretariat said.

Government chief whip Prasanta Kumar Muduli had filed a petition before the Speaker on March 18 seeking disqualification of two members as they voluntarily gave up primary membership from the BJD.

Notices were sent to Dhali and Nayak for a hearing on the petition before the Speaker but they did not turn up. In response, both Dhali and Nayak claimed that the disqualification would not have any impact on their electoral prospects in the 2024 elections.