BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari on Friday said the saffron party may move the court to disqualify former party leader Mukul Roy, who defected to the ruling TMC, as MLA.
The Nandigram MLA, who recently submitted a 64-page document to Speaker Biman Bandyopadhyay demanding disqualification of Mukul Roy, attended the hearing on his petition at the Speaker's chamber on Friday. The next date of hearing is July 30.
In the document submitted to the Speaker, Suvendu Adhikari had said that Mukul Roy, who won an assembly seat on a BJP ticket and later joined the Trinamool Congress, should be disqualified under the anti-defection law.
"We would want a specific time frame within which the hearing will be completed. We want Roy to get disqualified as soon as possible. We are considering our legal options. The party may move the court," PTI quoted Suvendu Adhikari as saying after his meeting with the Speaker.
He further said the BJP has already submitted all documents, audio clips and video footage backing their demand to the Speaker.
"We have already provided a 64-page dossier to the office of the Speaker. The process of hearing should not take too long. We have great respect for the Speaker's chair but past experiences have made us sceptics. Over the last 10 years, there had been at least 50 cases of such defections in West Bengal. Not much happened... We don't have confidence in this (TMC) government," he said.
Asked about the development during Friday's hearing, he said, "The BJP will not go into technicalities... We have been asked to attend the hearing again on July 30."
Suvendu Adhikari, along with other BJP MLAs, had staged a walkout in the West Bengal Assembly last week in protest against Mukul Roy's appointment as Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman.
Reacting to Suvendu Adhikari's statement on moving court, TMC leader Mukul Roy said, "Let him. He can go wherever he wants."
Mukul Roy also attended a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee as its chairman during the day. No BJP MlA was present at the session.
(With inputs from agencies)