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Shimla: Six Congress MLAs from Himachal Pradesh, who were disqualified for cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha elections, have formally joined the BJP. These MLAs include Congress’s Sudhir Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Rajendra Singh Rana, Chaitanya Sharma, Devender Bhutto, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal. Apart from these, three independent MLAs of Himachal Pradesh Hoshiar Singh, KL Thakur and Ashish Sharma have also formally joined BJP.
Six rebel Congress MLAs – Sudhir Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Rajendra Rana, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Chaitanya Sharma and Devendra Kumar Bhutto have been asked to remain present in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly and vote in favor of the state government during the cut motion and budget. Was disqualified on 29 February for disobeying the whip. The Election Commission has announced by-elections for their constituencies.
Three independent MLAs – Ashish Sharma, Hoshiar Singh and KL Thakur submitted their resignations on Friday. There is a possibility of by-elections in their constituencies also. Hoshiar Singh later told reporters, “We have submitted our resignation. We will join the BJP and contest the elections on the party ticket.”
The Congress government led by Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu was in trouble last month after it won the Rajya Sabha elections for the state’s lone seat with the support of these nine Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs. However, Sukhu’s government does not see any threat right now, but BJP is planning to topple his government with victory in the by-elections. BJP’s victory in the by-elections may reduce the number of MLAs in the ruling party’s camp.
After the disqualification of six Congress MLAs, the number of Congress members in the 62-member Himachal Pradesh Assembly has reduced from 39 to 33. The assembly originally has 68 members. BJP has 25 MLAs. The President can vote only if both the parties are tied during the majority test and currently the President is from the Congress Party.
