Congress' 6 Rebel MLAs of Himachal And 3 Independents Join BJP
Another setback hits Congress. The party had disqualified six MLAs from Himachal Pradesh for cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha polls. According to reports, the disqualified MLAs, along with three independent candidates, joined the BJP today.
In a ceremony attended by BJP figures including Union Minister Anurag Thakur, state unit president Rajeev Bindal, and former Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, the former Congress MLAs were welcomed into the BJP. Thakur criticised the current state government of Congress by alleging the government’s failure to fulfil the promises made during the elections.
Eminent personalities from Himachal Pradesh join the BJP at party headquarters in New Delhi. #JoinBJP https://t.co/jsNYcoO1jt
— BJP (@BJP4India) March 23, 2024
The six disqualified candidates include Sudhir Sharma, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Devinder Kumar Bhutto, Ravi Thakur, Chetanya Sharma, and Rajinder Rana. On February 29, the six were disqualified for cross-voting. They had also abstained from voting in favour of the Himachal government during an important motion in the State Assembly.
The three independent MLAs had voted for the BJP during the Rajya Sabha elections. Ashish Sharma from Hamirpur constituency, KL Thakur from Nalagarh, and Hoshiyar Singh from Dehra submitted their resignations from the assembly and joined the BJP.
#WATCH | After joining BJP, rebel Himachal MLA Rajendra Rana says, “The Congress government is not fulfilling the guarantees it made to the people of Himachal Pradesh. We are answerable to the people, but when they asked us, we had no answer… The CM had become a dictator and… pic.twitter.com/A2zwTKs3eS
— ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2024
The six former Congress rebels and the three independent MLAs had voted in favour of Harsh Mahajan, the Rajya Sabha candidate of the BJP, in the Rajya Sabha elections held in February. The six MLAs had challenged their disqualification in the top court. According to PTI, they are considering withdrawing it. The Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing on May 6.
Congress had a strength of 40 MLAs after the 2022 assembly elections. However, their significant lead over the BJP has been reduced to 34 after the rebellion by the six MLAs. The BJP has only 25 seats.
