SP threatens legal action against former MLA

Samajwadi Party on Tuesday threatened legal action against its former MLA from Madhya Pradesh who had filed a PIL against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accusing him of rape.

The party also distanced itself from him saying he was expelled from SP in 2009.

"The central leadership has directed the state unit to serve him a legal notice seeking explanation as to why Kishore Samrite was misusing the party's name; if he continues to misuse the party's name, the Madhya Pradesh unit has been directed to lodge an FIR against him and seek legal recourse," a statement issued by SP General Secretary Ram Gopal Yadav said in New Delhi.

The statement by the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led party comes close on the heels of Samrite reportedly telling the Supreme Court that SP leaders had asked him to file a PIL against Rahul in the Allahabad High Court in 2010.     Responding to a an apex court notice, the Akhilesh Yadav government had reportedly termed Samrite as mentally imbalanced.

The SP said after losing the Balaghat Lok Sabha election on SP ticket, Samrite had made some "objectionable" statements following which the Madhya Pradesh unit had expelled him.

"Since then, he is not a member of the Samajwadi Party," Yadav said in the statement.