Congress files petition seeking disqualification of Rae Bareli MLA Aditi Singh

After expelling 10 senior leaders from the party for six years, the Congress party now seeks the disqualification of its Rae Bareli legislator Aditi Singh. The party has filed a petition seeking the disqualification of the 32-year-old Rae Bareli legislator. Congress Legislature Party leader Aradhana Mishra has filed a petition on the same before the Vidhan Sabha speaker. 

The petition says that Aditi Singh went against the whip issued by the party to boycott the special session organised by the Uttar Pradesh government to mark 150 years of Mahatma Gandhi on October 2.

According to the party sources, the disqualification move was taken after Aditi violated the party line.

“She had been indulging in a number of activities that are not in consonance with the party’s thought and action. She was the first one to congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the abrogation of Article 370. Then her sudden appearance for the special session was a violation of the party whip,” a Congress party leader was quoted as saying.

On October 2, the state government had called for a special Assembly session and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was leading a ‘Shanti Yatra’ in Lucknow. However, Aditi Singh stayed away from the party event.

After the Congress legislator attended the Uttar Pradesh Government's special assembly session, her security cover was promptly increased by the state government. There was a flutter within the party when Aditi Singh met UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. 

She was also absent from a training session organised by the party in Rae Bareli between October 22 and 24 and was served a showcause notice by the then CLP leader Ajay Kumar Lallu, to which, she has not responded so far.

On November 21, Aditi Singh tied the knot with party's legislator from Punjab, Angad Singh, in New Delhi.

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The expelled Congress leaders

The Congress's Uttar Pradesh unit on Sunday expelled 10 of its senior leaders, including two former state ministers, for a period of six years. The list of 10 expelled Congress leaders include, former UP ministers Ramkrishna Dwivedi and Satyadev Tripathi, Siraj Mehdi (former MLC), Santosh Singh (former MP), Bhoodhar Narayan Mishra (former MLA), Vinod Chaudhary (former MLA), Nek Chandra Pandey (former MLA), Swayam Prakash Goswami (former chairman of the Youth Congress) and senior leader Sanjeev Singh. The leaders were accused of opposing the party leadership's decision at public forums and tarnishing the image of the party. "A notice was issued to 11 leaders on Thursday and a reply was sought in the next 24 hours. Barring former MLA Hafiz Mohammad Umar, no one submitted their reply," said Imran Masood, a member of the party's disciplinary committee, in a statement. The Congress on Thursday served the notices to the leaders in the state for "unnecessarily opposing" the party over the revamp of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) in October.

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(With agency inputs)