Disqualified lawmakers’ list grows longer in UP

LUCKNOW: With the disqualification of BSP MP Afzal Ansari from the Lok Sabha almost a certainty now, following his conviction in a Gangsters' Act case, Uttar Pradesh seems to be setting up a record of sorts when it comes to disqualified lawmakers.

In September 2013, Rashid Masood of the Congress had lost his Rajya Sabha seat after being convicted by the Supreme Court on charges of corruption and other offences. He became the first MP to lose his seat after the SC struck down a provision in the electoral law -- the Representation of the People Act of 1951 -- that provided immunity to MPs and MLAs from immediate disqualification.

As per a Supreme Court order of 2013, the membership of an MP/MLA is annulled if she/he is convicted and sentenced to two years or more.

The latest in the line is BSP MP Afzal Ansari, who had won the 2019 Lok Sabha election from the Ghazipur constituency by defeating incumbent J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.

Ansari was convicted and sentenced to four years in jail in a case under the Gangsters Act by a Ghazipur court on Saturday.

Among the UP legislators who have faced disqualification, are former SP MLAs Mohd Azam Khan (Rampur) and his son Abdullah Azam (Suar).

Azam Khan and Abdullah Azam were disqualified in February this year after being convicted in a case related to hate speech, holding a demonstration and blocking traffic.

Abdullah Azam has been disqualified twice from the UP Assembly. He was earlier disqualified in 2020 after the Allahabad High Court set aside his election to the Assembly. His previous disqualification was effective from December 16, 2019.

BJP MLA Vikram Saini (Khatauli-Muzaffarnagar) recently lost their memberships on the same ground.

In December 2021, BJP MLA from Gosainganj (Ayodhya) Indra Pratap Tiwari a.k.a Khabbu Tiwari had lost his membership nearly one-and a-half months after being convicted by an MP-MLA court in a 29-year-old fake marksheet case.

Tiwari was sentenced to five years' imprisonment in October 2021. It was alleged that Tiwari, despite failing in B.Sc second year in 1990, had managed to get admission in B.Sc third year.

In December 2019, 'expelled' BJP MLA from Bangarmau (Unnao) Kuldeep Senger was disqualified following his conviction in a rape case by a Delhi sessions court.

The Delhi court had pronounced its verdict of life imprisonment for Sengar, a four-term MLA.

He was accused of rape of a girl in his village (Makhi) in 2017. The girl attempted self-immolation outside the CM's residence in Lucknow in 2018, allegedly after the police did not take action on her complaint.

The victim's father, who was arrested by the police, died in police custody after he was allegedly beaten up in the lock-up, allegedly by Sengar's brother Atul Sengar. Following public outrage, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had handed over the case to the CBI.

In April 2019, the BJP MLA from Hamirpur, Ashok Singh Chandel had lost his Assembly membership after he was convicted and awarded life term in a 1997 murder case by the Hamirpur district court and the verdict was upheld by the Allahabad High Court. He is currently in jail.