BJP suffers setback in Madhya Pradesh as Pawai MLA Prahlad Lodhi disqualified following conviction in assault case

Bhopal: In a setback to the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Madhya Pradesh Assembly Secretariat on Saturday announced disqualification of BJP MLA from Pawai, Prahlad Lodhi, following his conviction in a criminal case. [caption id=“attachment_7591001” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Parhlad Lodhi. News18[/caption] It also informed the Election Commission that Pawai seat has now fallen vacant. On Thursday, a Bhopal court sentenced Lodhi and 12 others to two years in jail for attacking a Tehsildar (revenue official) in 2014. Speaker NP Prajapati said as per the Supreme Court’s ruling, a public representative should be disqualified as soon as he or she is convicted, and the rule was followed in Lodhi’s case. An Assembly official said that as per the apex court’s ruling, a legislator is disqualified if he or she is sentenced to two years or more in jail. Ruling Congress has 115 members in 230-member Assembly, while the BJP had 108 MLAs, now reduced to 107 with Lodhi’s disqualification.