india

Updated: Jun 25, 2019 10:07 IST

The Gujarat High Court on Monday issued a notice to state assembly speaker Rajendra Trivedi and former Congress MLA Alpesh Thakor after the opposition party demanded that Thakor must be disqualified as an elected representative.

The Congress has also said that Trivedi did not take cognizance of its submission in April seeking Thakor’s resignation as an MLA.

“Thakor was elected on the mandate of the Congress party. When he has resigned from all other posts, he should cease to be MLA as well. We had asked the speaker to take necessary action. In two months, the speaker has not done so, leaving us to take legal recourse,” Congress chief whip and petitioner Ashwin Kotwal said.

Kotwal added that the high court has sent notices to both Thakor and Trivedi and slated the next hearing for June 27.

However, both men denied they have received any notice and said they could react only after studying the issue.

Thakor was the Congress’ secretary and co-in charge of Bihar when he resigned in the middle of the Lok Sabha elections in April. He had listed “betrayal and neglect to his community by the leadership” as his reasons for leaving the Congress, which he had joined during the run-up to the 2017 assembly elections.

His emergence as an OBC leader as he opposed the Patidar agitation for reservation benefits since 2015 had paved his way for the party’s membership.

Rumours that Thakor may join the BJP have been doing the rounds for months now and his close associate and the Congress’ Bayad MLA Dhavalsinh Zala is also said to be disgruntled with the grand old party.

Zala on Monday alleged he was left out of a party meeting slated the same evening to prepare for the Rajya Sabha elections.

“I have not been invited. A faction of the Congress is responsible for the neglect,” Zala said.