Swapan Dasgupta Resigns As RS Member Over His WB Poll Candidature As Nominated MP

On the 16th of March, Rajya Sabha lawmaker Swapan Dasgupta submitted his resignation.

Mr. Dasgupta sent his resignation letter to the Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu’s office, on the 16th of March. The news of his resignation was confirmed by the officials of the secretariat. His resignation came after Mahua Moitra, a member of the Trinamool Congress (TMC,) demanded disqualification of Mr. Dasgupta as Rajya Sabha lawmaker. Ms. Moitra said, “Swapan Dasgupta is (the) BJP candidate for WB polls. (The) 10th Schedule of (the) Constitution says nominated RS members to be disqualified if he joins any political party AFTER expiry of 6 months from oath. He was sworn in April 2016, remains unallied. Must be disqualified NOW for joining BJP.”

Ms. Mahua addressed the media and said, “Unlike his other colleagues like Rupa Ganguly and Subramanian Swamy, who joined BJP after being nominated as RS members, Dasgupta continues to be a nominated member. He did not join the BJP within 6 months (which ended in October 2016) of being nominated to the RS. Now, he is contesting on a BJP ticket. This is a clear violation of the 10th Schedule and he has to be disqualified.”

According to the 10th Schedule of the Indian Constitution, which is the anti defection law, if a nominated member (MP or MLA) joins a party six months after he becomes a member of the legislature, he could be disqualified. However, the final decision regarding the disqualification would be taken by the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

On the other hand, Mr. Dasgupta in his resignation, wrote, “I have resigned from the Rajya Sabha today to commit myself totally to the fight for a better Bengal. I hope to file my nomination as BJP candidate for the Tarakeswar Assembly seat in the next few days.”

According to the sources, Mr. Dasgupta was named as the BJP candidate from the Tarakeswar Assembly constituency. The BJP released a list of more than 50 candidates on the 14th of March. However, he is not a BJP member, but was going to contest on a BJP ticket.

Mr. Swapan Dasgupta’s resignation is yet to be accepted by M. Venkaiah Naidu.

This is a developing story, more details awaited.

Stay tuned for further updates.