CPI(ML)L leader asks Bihar Speaker about BJP MLA’s continued membership

CPI(ML)L general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya has questioned why the membership of BJP MLA Raju Singh has not been terminated three months after his conviction in a case involving celebratory firing. Speaking to reporters in Patna on Sunday, Bhattacharya asked Bihar Legislative Assembly Speaker Prem Kumar to explain the delay. He said different standards appeared to have been applied in Singh’s case and that of former CPI(ML)L MLA Manoj Manzil.

Singh, who represents Sahebganj, was sentenced by a trial court on July 4 to four years’ simple imprisonment for the death of Archana Gupta. She was shot during a New Year’s Eve party at a farmhouse in Delhi’s Fatehpur Beri area on December 31, 2018. The court also fined Singh ₹25 lakh and criticised the practice of celebratory firing.

Bhattacharya said three months had passed since the conviction by the Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi without action from the Assembly Speaker. He contrasted this with the treatment of Manoj Manzil, whose membership was terminated after his conviction in a murder case. Manzil was sentenced to life imprisonment by an Ara MP/MLA court on February 13, 2024, along with 22 others, in a case connected with the 2015 Assembly election.

A by-election was subsequently held in the Agiaon reserved constituency alongside the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Bhattacharya said. He argued that constitutional and legal provisions should apply equally to elected representatives regardless of party affiliation. Bhattacharya called on the Speaker to clarify the status of Singh’s membership and explain why no decision had been made.

The report did not include a response from the Speaker, Singh or the BJP to the allegations.