Former Minister Vaijanath Patil has urged Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar to accept the resignation of Chincholi MLA Umesh Jadhav from the Assembly membership submitted about 15 days ago.
In a letter to the Speaker, the copies of which were released to the press on Monday, Mr. Patil took exception to the delay in accepting the resignation. He said it was a constitutional right to change political affiliations and as Dr. Jadhav was contesting the Lok Sabha polls by resigning as MLA, there was a need to ensure that the MLA seat is not left vacant for a long time. Accepting his resignation would pave the way for holding byelection to the seat and would help people of the constituency, he argued.
The 81-year-old Mr. Patil, who recently quit the Congress, maintained that he would not join the BJP.
It may be noted that Dr. Jadhav, who has tendered his resignation to the MLA post as well as the Congress membership, has formally joined the BJP and is set to contest as the saffron party’s candidate against Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha M. Mallikarjun Kharge in Kalaburagi. However, his resignation is yet to be accepted on technical grounds as a petition seeking his disqualification is still pending.
