In Running as BJP Candidate in WB Assembly Polls, Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta Faces Disqualification

 Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra said that, in accordance with the Tenth Schedule of the constitution, a nominated member will be disqualified if he joins any political party after the expiry of six months from the date on which he takes his seat.

 

 

New Delhi: With the Bharatiya Janata Party declaring the nominated – and formally ‘independent’ and politically unaffiliated – Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta as its candidate for the Tarakeshwar seat in the upcoming West Bengal assembly elections, All India Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has called for his disqualification from the upper house in accordance with the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution of India.

Moitra’s party is expected to formally ask Vice President Venkaiah Nadu – who is chairman of the Rajya Sabha – to disqualify Dasgupta on Tuesday.

Raising the issue on Twitter, Moitra attached the Tenth Schedule to her tweet and highlighted point number 3 which states: “A nominated member of a House shall be disqualified for being a member of the House if he joins any political party after the expiry of six months from the date on which he takes his seat after complying with the requirements of article 99, or, as the case may be, article 188.”

 

Swapan Dasgupta is BJP candidate for WB polls.
10th Schedule of Constitution says nominated RS member to be disqualified if he joins any political party AFTER expiry of 6 months from oath.
He was sworn in April 2016, remains unallied.
Must be disqualified NOW for joining BJP. pic.twitter.com/d3CDc9dNCe

— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) March 15, 2021 

 Moitra tweeted that “Swapan Dasgupta is BJP candidate for WB polls. 10th Schedule of Constitution says nominated RS member to be disqualified if he joins any political party AFTER expiry of 6 months from oath. He was sworn in April 2016, remains unallied. Must be disqualified NOW for joining BJP.”

 She then followed up on this tweet, saying that as of today Dasgupta is nominated and not a member of BJP and should thus be disqualified as per the Tenth Schedule.

 

 

 

Following up on my previous tweet - Rajya Sabha website as of today says Swapan Dasgupta is nominated & not formally BJP. If he files nomination as @BJP candidate he should be disqualified according to the Constitution’s 10th Schedule (Para 2 (3)) pic.twitter.com/b0RdQ0Rpxv

— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) March 15, 2021

 

It is pertinent to note that Dasgupta was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in April 2016 and his term expires in 2022. On March 14, he was named by the BJP as its candidate from Tarakeswar.

Soon after his name was announced for the seat by the BJP, Dasgupta tweeted his acceptance of the nomination and said: “Honoured to be nominated by the West Bengal BJP to contest from Tarakeshwar—a centre of Bengal’s cultural heritage. I look forward to the campaign for a new, vibrant Sonar Bangla.”

When The Wire contacted him to seek his view on his possible disqualification, Dasgupta said, “I would not like to discuss it”.

The Wire has learned that the Trinamool Congress will move to disqualify Dasgupta on Tuesday. “Though March 19 is the last date for Dasgupta to file his nomination papers, the definition of joining party does not mean only filing nomination; being named as an official candidate and publicly accepting that is enough,” said a TMC source.

“Once this is filed, we will demand that Venkaiah Naidu apply the same timelines and the same yardstick that he applied to Sharad Yadav’s case in 2016. Yadav asked for time since he was busy with elections but was not given time. He asked to be represented before the chairman by lawyers but Naidu said there is no precedent of lawyers appearing in 10th Schedule proceedings before the chairman. He passed an order of disqualification post haste.”

In the Rajya Sabha’s official list of 12 nominated MPs, eight have ‘BJP’ listed as their party affiliation while four – Swapan Dasgupta, Ranjan Gogoi, Narendra Jadhav and Mary Kom are listed as unaffiliated with any party. There is thus no ambiguity about Dasgupta’s status: his acceptance of the BJP’s ticket for the Tarakeshwar seat has come after the expiry of the six month deadline for a nominated MP to choose a party affiliation. 

Screenshot from Rajya Sabha website 

According to senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, Dasgupta need not resign immediately.  “The proceedings will have to be taken before the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha or the Vice-President. The Tenth Schedule proceedings are not automatic, they have to be initiated.”

As to what would happen if Dasgupta did not resign immediately, the senior advocate said, “it is not a condition precedent for contesting an election that he should resign. But having contested here, he could possibly be liable to be disqualified from Rajya Sabha.”

 SOURCE ; THE WIRE

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(With input from news agency language)

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