Congress MLA Disqualified From MP Assembly Following Conviction In Cheating Case
Bharti had defeated senior BJP leader and former minister Narottam Mishra in the last elections.
Bhopal: Congress Datia MLA Rajendra Bharti has been disqualified from the Madhya Pradesh Assembly following his conviction by a Delhi court in a cheating case. The Assembly secretariat issued a notification in this regard late on Thursday night, citing the Delhi court order sentencing Bharti to three years’ imprisonment.
Bharti and a former bank employee were sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs1 lakh each by the Delhi court on Thursday in a cheating case involving the forging of bank records to secure illegal interest payments between 1998 and 2011, after being convicted in the case on Wednesday.
Bharti had defeated senior BJP leader and former minister Narottam Mishra in the last elections.
The Assembly notification also declared the Datia seat vacant. The Assembly secretariat issued a press release on Friday, announcing disqualification of Bharti from the House.
Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari criticised the decision to disqualify the MLA and alleged that it was done at the behest of the ruling BJP. BJP state secretary Rajneesh Agrawal regretted that the Congress instead of expelling a party leader convicted by the court of serious misdeeds was trying to politicise the issue by shifting blame on the BJP. This clearly established that the Congress always patronised corruption, he alleged.