New Delhi:
Several of the MPs who contested the assembly polls and won will have to quit one of the seats in the next 14 days, else they stand to lose their Parliament membership, an expert said citing provisions of the Constitution. The BJP fielded 21 MPs, including Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, Prahlad Singh Patel and Faggan Singh Kulaste, in the assembly polls — seven each in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, four in Chhattisgarh and three in Telangana.
While 12 BJP MPs won, nine lost.
Congress had also fielded MPs A Revanth Reddy and Uttam Kumar Reddy, both of whom have won in Telangana.
The MPs who win assembly polls will have to quit one of their seats in the next 14 days.
“If they don’t, on expiry of 14 days, they will lose their membership of Parliament. However, they can continue as a member of the state legislative assembly,” Constitution expert and former Lok Sabha secretary general P D T Achari said, citing the Prevention of Simultaneous Membership Rule issued by the president in 1950 under Article 101 of the Constitution.
According to available results and trends, Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, Prahlad Patel and Renuka Singh have won elections along with BJP MPs Baba Balaknath, Diya Kumari, Kirori Lal Meena (Rajya Sabha member) and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore. RLP’s lone Lok Sabha member Hanuman Beniwal also won the polls in Rajasthan.
Another Union minister, Faggan Singh Kulaste, has lost the assembly polls.
BJP MPs Ganesh Singh and Bhagirath Choudhary were among those who lost.
While counting took place in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana on Sunday, it will take place in Mizoram on Monday.
The BJP won in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, and the Congress in Telangana.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)