Surendra Pal Singh, the BJP's nominee for the January 5 election to the Karanpur assembly constituency, was inducted as a minister in the Rajasthan government Saturday, drawing flak from the Congress which accused the ruling party of violating the model code of conduct.
Apart from Singh, 21 BJP MLAs were sworn in as ministers by Governor Kalraj Mishra at a ceremony in the Raj Bhawan here. While 12 leaders have been sworn in as cabinet ministers, five have been made ministers of state (independent charge) and five ministers of state.
Singh took oath as Minister of State (independent charge).
Hitting out at the BJP for inducting Singh into the council of ministers, the Congress' Rajasthan unit chief Govind Singh Dotasra said his party will bring this matter to the Election Commission's notice and demand action.
Polling to the Karanpur assembly seat of Rajasthan, originally scheduled for November 25, was adjourned following the death of the Congress candidate. The election will now be held on January 5 and results will be declared three days later.
"The BJP's ego is at its peak. It has defied the Election Commission and violated the Model Code of Conduct by administering the oath of office to its candidate from Karanpur Surendra Pal Singh," Dotasra said in a post in Hindi on X.
He said this was probably the first case in the country where the BJP has made its candidate a minister before the polling.
"The Congress will bring this matter to the notice of the Election Commission and demand action. The BJP may tempt the voters but the Congress party will win the Karanpur seat by a huge margin," he added.
The Congress has fielded Rupinder Singh Kooner as its nominee for the poll, which was postponed following the death of party candidate and his father Gurmeet Singh Koonar.
There are 249 polling stations in Karanpur assembly constituency and 2,40,826 voters till December 6.
Of the 200 assembly seats in Rajasthan, voting for 199 took place on November 25 and the results were declared on December 3. The BJP won 115 seats while the Congress bagged 69.
Bhajan Lal Sharma took oath as Rajasthan chief minister on December 15. Along with him, newly elected MLAs Diya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa took oath as deputy chief ministers.
Congress leader and former MLA Sanyam Lodha also raised this issue and wrote on X, "Administering the oath of office as minister to BJP candidate Surendra Pal Singh...is a clear violation of the model code of conduct. Spoke to State Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta on phone and demanded immediate action." BJP leader Rajendra Rathore defended his party's decision and said that the oath taken by Singh as Minister of State is in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
He said, "Under the provisions contained in Article 164 (4) of the Constitution, any person has the right to hold the post of minister for six months without being elected. According to this constitutional provision, the oath of office of minister can be administered to any person by...the governor on the advice of the chief minister. After that, it is necessary for him to be elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly within six months." "The oath...is not a violation of any kind of model code of conduct. Dozens of ministers have contested elections while holding ministerial posts in the previous government also," he said.
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