Convicted for gun threat, Rajasthan BJP MLA Kanwarlal Meena gets disqualified

JAIPUR: Sixteen days after Supreme Court dismissed Rajasthan BJP MLA Kanwarlal Meena's appeal and two days after his surrender, assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani finally disqualified the governing party's legislator on Friday.

The move came hours after Congress filed a contempt petition against Devnani in Rajasthan high court for allegedly delaying action against Kanwarlal Meena, sentenced to three years for intimidating a govt officer at gunpoint during a panchayat bypoll in 2005.

Devnani defended the timing of his decision, stating his office acted upon receiving a formal legal opinion from the advocate-general on Friday. "I do not act under any pressure. Every decision is rooted in legal and constitutional principles. Even in past cases, Speakers took time for due diligence," Devnani said.

Opposition Congress, however, cited examples of Rahul Gandhi being disqualified from Lok Sabha within 24 hours of his conviction in 2023 and Rajasthan BSP MLA BL Kushwaha being disqualified within two days of his conviction in 2016. Congress accused Devnani of having deliberately delayed disqualification of Meena and acting only after the contempt petition was filed, attributing the final outcome to its sustained pressure. "The Speaker acted only to avoid further embarrassment in the high court," state opposition leader Tikaram Jully of Congress said.

Meena has been disqualified from May 1 when the HC upheld a trial court's three-year sentence to him. Meena had then approached the apex court for relief but it dismissed his plea on May 7 citing the legislator's extensive criminal record.

The disqualification has reduced BJP's strength in the 200-member assembly from 119 to 118 and necessitates a bypoll in Anta, Meena's assembly seat in Baran district, within six months. The assembly has notified the Election Commission about the vacancy. Meena is the second MLA in Rajasthan to be disqualified upon conviction, following BSP's Kushwaha in 2016.