Bhubaneswar: Odisha Assembly Speaker today issued show-cause notices to four MLAs who resigned from the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and joined BJP.
The legislators are Samir Ranjan Dash of Nimapara, Simarani Nayak of Hindol, Ramesh Sai (Athamallick) and Parshuram Dhada (Soro). All of them have been asked to reply by May 27. They would explain why they would not be disqualified from their Assembly membership on grounds of defection.
The government Chief whip Prasanta Muduli filed a petition with the Odisha Assembly Speaker Pramila Mallik, seeking disqualification of the MLAs under the anti-defection laws. The Speaker accepted the petition and directed the Assembly secretary to issue the notices.
The four MLAs had recently resigned from BJD and joined BJP over ticket denial.
Two other MLAs- Arabinda Dhali and Premananda Nayak were disqualified for defecting to BJP.
Parshuram Dhada has been fielded as MLA candidate for the Soro seat by the BJP, Simarani for the Hindol constituency while Arabinda Dhali has been nominated for the Jayadev Assembly seat. After being denied a ticket, Samir Dash had recently joined the BJP and vowed to help party candidate win.
