The Congress on Friday issued a show-cause notice to its Uttar Pradesh MLA Aditi Singh for defying the whip by attending a special Assembly session that the party had decided to boycott, PTI reported. The Rae Bareli MLA was given two days to respond to the notice.

“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,” Congress Legislature Party leader Ajay Kumar Lallu said in the notice. “You were also informed about it individually but you defied the party instructions...This amounts to indiscipline and anti-party activity.”

Singh had also skipped party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi’s protest march in Lucknow on Wednesday.

The 36-hour special session of the state Legislative Assembly to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on Wednesday was boycotted by the Congress and several other Opposition parties. The session began on Wednesday and ended on Thursday night without any breaks. The Legislative Council also held a similar session simultaneously.

Chief Minister Adityanath said the Opposition party had exposed itself by staying away from the discussion on the United Nations’ sustainable development goals, which were on the agenda for the session.

The actions of Singh, who is a first-time MLA and the daughter of former Congress leader Akhilesh Singh, have triggered rumours of infighting and a possible move to the Bharatiya Janata Party. Akhilesh Singh died in August.

On Wednesday, she had said she attended the special Assembly session as it was a good opportunity to speak about her constituents’ problems. The Congress leader had also supported the Centre’s August 5 order to strip Jammu and Kashmir of its special constitutional status.

On Thursday, the Uttar Pradesh government upgraded Singh’s security to the Y-plus category, which she claimed was based on an earlier request.

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