Himachal Pradesh’s Ruling Party Rebounds: 6 Congress MLAs Disqualified
The MLAs who have been disqualified include Rajinder Rana, Sudhir Sharma, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Devinder Kumar Bhutoo, Ravi Thakur, and Chetanya Sharma.
In New Delhi, it was announced today that six Congress MLAs from Himachal Pradesh, who voted in favor of the BJP during the Rajya Sabha election, have been disqualified from the assembly by the Speaker.
Yesterday, the BJP applauded and congratulated the six MLAs for their ‘courage’ when they arrived at the assembly, having spent the previous night in BJP-governed Haryana. However, their move has ultimately backfired.
Rajinder Rana, Sudhir Sharma, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Devinder Kumar Bhutoo, Ravi Thakur, and Chetanya Sharma are the MLAs who have been disqualified.
Today, Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania stated that the disqualified MLAs defied the party’s directive to vote in favor of the government on the Finance Bill during yesterday’s session. Following this, the assembly approved the state Budget after the Speaker suspended 15 BJP MLAs.
The Speaker mentioned that the conduct of the six MLAs constituted a breach of the anti-defection law.
For the ruling Congress in Himachal Pradesh, the disqualification of the MLAs has temporarily ended the concern over the BJP regaining power through a no-confidence vote, following the six MLAs’ support for the state’s Opposition party in the Rajya Sabha election.
The BJP concluded that the six Congress MLAs no longer had trust in the ruling party.
Yesterday, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra raised doubts about whether the BJP, with only 25 MLAs, was making extra efforts to topple the government in Himachal Pradesh.
Excluding the six disqualified MLAs, the Congress currently holds 34 seats in the 62-member house. Additionally, three independent MLAs who previously supported the Congress voted in favor of the BJP during the Rajya Sabha election.
Priyanka Gandhi expressed on the microblogging platform X in Hindi, “In a democratic setup, citizens have the privilege to elect their preferred government. The residents of Himachal Pradesh exercised this privilege and established the Congress government with a significant majority. However, the BJP aims to undermine this fundamental right of the people by exploiting financial influence, authority of agencies, and the support of the central government.”
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