Guwahati, March 10: Sootea MLA Padma Hazarika today filed a title suit challenging his expulsion from the AGP.

He also challenged the cancellation of his vote in the recently held Rajya Sabha election in the state and filed a Rs 3-crore defamation suit against AGP publicity secretary Manoj Saikia.

Hazarika’s counsel Niran Borah filed the suit in the court of civil judge number 1, Kamrup, Amir Uddin Ahmed.

AGP president Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, party general secretaries Utpal Dutta and Kamala Kalita, publicity secretary Manoj Saikia and the principal secretary of Assam Legislative Assembly, Gauranga Prasad Das, who was the returning officer of the Rajya Sabha election, were made defendants in the case.

The AGP had expelled Hazarika, a three-time MLA, for a “deliberate mistake” during voting in the Rajya Sabha poll held last month in which an Opposition-backed candidate lost narrowly.

Hazarika’s vote was cancelled because he put a tick mark against the name of the candidate of his choice instead of a number as specified by the Election Commission. He admitted the mistake but said the AGP had not briefed him on how to cast his vote.

Hazarika said he had to move court since his expulsion from the party was illegal and unconstitutional. He said before taking action against him the party should have conducted an inquiry, issued a showcause notice to him and given him a chance to defend himself before tarnishing his image in public. “Till date, I have not received any letter from the party informing me about my expulsion,” he added.

Hazarika’s lawyer said, “He (Hazarika) had cast his vote for the candidate backed by the AGP. The only mistake he made was to put a tick mark instead of writing a number. It was a technical defect that happened because he was not briefed by the party. We have prayed before the court to declare his vote as valid. His mistake was not deliberate and a person should not suffer on account of a bona fide, unintentional, human error.”

Hazarika sought a compensation of Rs 3 lakh in his defamation suit against Saikia for allegedly making defamatory statements against him, which were published in three Guwahati-based vernacular dailies on February 8.

When his reaction was sought on the suit filed by Hazarika, the AGP president said, “Since the matter is now in court, let the court decide.”

In a function held at the AGP head office here today, around 200 BJP workers from Nagaon and Morigaon, led by the party’s state secretary Mridula Borkakoty, joined the AGP.

Artist Pulak Gogoi also joined the AGP today.

Mahanta said the party would release its list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls latest by March 14.

Asked about two senior AGP leaders, Chandra Mohan Patowary and Hiten Goswami, joining the BJP in Delhi today, Mahanta refused to comment. All he said was “my compliments and best wishes to them”.