Two more Delhi MLAs disqualified

A week after disqualifying rebel AAP MLA Kapil Mishra, Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel on Thursday disqualified two more AAP MLAs Anil Bajpai and Devinder Kumar Sehrawat, who joined BJP ahead of Lok Sabha elections, under the anti-defection law.

Bajpai has been disqualified with effect from May 3 and Shekhawat from May 6. The Speaker's actions came on separate petitions by AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj.

On August 2, the Speaker had disqualified Mishra, who earlier Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of personal corruption, under the anti-defection law.

Bajpai and Shekhawat separately told the Speaker that they supported the "dynamic vision and development policies" as well as nationalism, stand on anti-terrorism and inclusive development of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The MLAs said they supported Modi as he found him to be "more deserving as compared to the leadership of AAP" but "if this amounted to defection then the anti-defection law should be re-looked.

While the joined BJP in a press conference, they said they had not joined the BJP. Both had approached Delhi High Court to stall the proceedings started by the Speaker but were not successful.