Lucknow: The Congress on February 11 challenged Uttar Pradesh Speaker Kesari Nath Tripathi's decision to recognise the breakaway group of the party as a separate outfit and asked him to disqualify the seven "defectors" from the House.

In a 93-page petition submitted to the Vidhan Sabha Secretariat, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Pramod Tewari challenged the inclusion of Akhilesh Singh, an unattached member, in the ranks of those defecting from the party.

He argued without his inclusion, a split in the 23-member CLP was not legally possible.

The Speaker had recognised the eight-member splinter group, including Akhilesh Singh, as a separate outfit on January 28.

Tewari told reporters after submitting the petition that Singh was wrongly considered a Congress member despite his being declared an unattached member by the Speaker himself.

This was done to manipulate the one-third figure needed for the split, he alleged.

Minus Singh, the number of MLAs who formed a separate party stood at seven, Tewari said.

The subsequent induction of seven MLAs into the Mayawati ministry proved beyond doubt that they were given allurements to cause a split in the party, he alleged.

The CLP leader asked the speaker to give his verdict on the petition before March 6, when the Assembly is to be convened for the budget session as the Opposition is planning to bring a no confidence motion against the government.

PTI