UP speaker disqualifies BSP MLA

Bahujan Samaj Party MLA Krishna Kumar Singh, who had joined the Samajwadi Party, was on Monday disqualified from the Uttar Pradesh assembly by the Speaker, the fourth party MLA to face action under the anti-defection law.

The action has been taken on a petition filed by BSP state president Swami Prasad Maurya seeking disqualification of the MLA from the state assembly under the anti-defection law, Speaker Sukhdev Rajbhar told reporters.

Singh alias Satish Verma, who represented Mallawan seat of Hardoi stands disqualified from the house from August 3, the speaker said, adding that he is the fourth member of the 15th Vidhan Sabha who has been disqualified under the anti-defection law.

The speaker said that petition to disqualify BSP MLA Jitendra Singh Babloo BSP MLA from Bikapur (Faizabad) was pending with him.

Verma had joined Samajwadi Party in August expressing his faith in ideologies of the party.

Earlier, the Speaker had disqualified BSP MLAs Mahfooz Kidwai from Masauli (Barabanki), Sher Bahadur Singh from Jalalpur (Ambedkarnagar) and Bhagwan Sharma alias Guddu Pandit from Dibai (Bulandshahar).