Aditi Singh, Congress MLA from Raebareli, skipped a party event in Lucknow
The Congress has sought an explanation from its MLA in Uttar Pradesh's Raebareli who attended a special assembly session on Wednesday to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi despite a joint opposition boycott. The MLA also skipped a protest by party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Lucknow.
Aditi Singh is an MLA from Raebareli district, which is Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's Lok Sabha seat. Sources said Ms Singh skipping the party's important event could be an indication that she is set to cross over to the BJP soon, though she denies it.
Ms Singh's father Akhilesh Singh was close to the Gandhi family and she is known to be close to Priyanka Gandhi as well, but despite the Congress General Secretary's presence in Lucknow for a march, Ms Singh did not participate in it.
"I did this because out of the 17 sustainable development goals, UP qualifies for 16. I had the opportunity to speak on those issues. If we want to pay true tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, we will have to follow his path and it can only happen if the country develops," Ms Singh said, justifying her presence in the assembly.
Praising the Yogi Adityanath government in the assembly, she said houses have been allocated to the poor by the BJP government in an impartial manner while caste used to be a big factor in the past. She said she has risen above "party lines" for national issues.
Less than 24 hours after she skipped her party event, Ms Singh was given 'Y' category security by the Yogi Adityanath government.
"The party had decided to boycott the two day session of the house and had also issued a whip to ensure that no MLA attends it. You were also informed about it individually but you defied the party instructions... This amounts to indiscipline and anti-party activity," Congress leader Ajay Kumar Lallu said in the notice, asking her to reply in two days.
The Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat has five assembly segments of which two are currently with the Congress, two with the BJP and one with the Samajwadi Party.
The BJP candidate who fought the Lok Sabha polls against Sonia Gandhi is Dinesh Singh, the brother of the Congress MLA from the Harchandpur seat in Raebareli.
Dinesh Singh joined the BJP just before the Lok Sabha polls and though his brother remains with the Congress officially, many say it's just a token presence. If Aditi Singh does switch over, it will be a big jolt to the Congress.
Rae Bareli is the Congress's only Lok Sabha seat from Uttar Pradesh.
Sonia Gandhi's victory margin in Rae Bareli dropped in the national election and her son and former Congress president Rahul Gandhi lost the election from the neighbouring Amethi seat to the BJP's Smriti Irani.