Ahead of polls, Cong wants Alpesh Thakor disqualified

Gujarat High Court Monday issued a notice to the speaker of the state assembly and rebel MLA Alpesh Thakor on a petition moved by a Congress MLA for disqualifying Thakor as an MLA. The petition alleges that the party was forced to move the court in view of inaction on the part of the speaker who has not disqualified Thakor despite its request as he is "aligned with the BJP."

The division bench led by justice SR Brahmbhatt issued the notice and sought their response on June 27. The petition has been moved by chief whip of Congress Ashwin Kotwal. The petition states that on April 10, Thakor, who was elected from Radhanpur in 2017 polls on Congress ticket, voluntarily resigned from the party. Subsequently, on April 25 the party approached the speaker to disqualify him as an MLA but the decision remains pending.

The petition states that "Thakor can't continue to enjoy the benefit of Legislative Assembly as he stands disqualified. The petition has sought interim relief from the court to "restrain Thakor from acting as a Member of Legislative Assembly as he has attained disqualification..." It mentions that "...a member who is disqualified is not expected to vote in the crucial Rajya Sabha elections and also is not entitled to participate in the legislative assembly proceedings."

The popular Other Backward Caste (OBC) leader Alpesh Thakor from north Gujarat had resigned from all posts of Congress party including as a secretary of All India Congress Committee at the peak of Lok Sabha poll campaign along with two close aides MLA Dhavalsinh Jhala and Bharatji Thakor. However, none of them resigned as MLAs.