india

Updated: Mar 28, 2019 13:57 IST

The Haryana Vidhan Sabha speaker, Kanwar Pal, on Wednesday sent notices to four Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) MLAs, who had sided with the recently floated Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), and gave them seven days to file reply under the anti-defection law.

The MLAs in question are Naina Chautala from Dabwali, Anoop Dhanak from Uklana, Rajdeep Phogat from Dadri and Prithi Singh from Narwana, who had been openly siding with the JJP formed in December last year after a vertical split in the INLD.

The notices were sent after INLD MLA from Fatehabad, Balwan Singh Daulatpuria, on Monday filed a petition before the Speaker seeking their disqualification as they had joined the JJP without resigning from the INLD.

The party leader and former leader of opposition in Haryana assembly, Abhay Chautala, had on March 23 also written to the Speaker against five MLAs — the fifth being Ranbir Singh Gangwa. He had also sent his resignation in the wake of fall in its MLAs’ count in the House.

The Speaker said he has put four MLAs on notice under the anti-defection law. “As Gangwa had already resigned and his resignation was accepted, Abhay Chautala’s complaint stands rejected,” he added.

To the question of next leader of opposition, he said that a letter in the context had been sent to state Congress president Ashok Tanwar.

The number of INLD MLAs was 19 in 2014, which dropped to 17 after the demise of party’s two MLAs, Hari Chand Middha and Jaswinder Singh Sandhu.

However, after the exit of Gangwa and Rawat, who joined the BJP, the INLD’s count in the House has fallen to 15, while the Congress has 17 legislators in the assembly.