Himachal: 3 Independent MLAs, 6 disqualified Congress MLAs to join BJP

Shimla: Three independent MLAs in Hiamchal Pradesh, who had voted in favour of the BJP candidate in the recent Rajya Sabha elections, submitted their resignation to the Assembly secretary on Friday.

One of them told reporters that they would join the BJP and contest elections on its ticket.

The three MLAs -- Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur constituency), Hoshiyar Singh (Dehra) and K L Thakur (Nalagarh) -- reached Shimla Friday, met leader of the opposition Jai Ram Thakur and thereafter submitted their resignation.

"We have submitted our resignation. We will join the BJP and contest elections on its ticket," Hoshiyar Singh told reporters.

The Independent MLAs said Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has stooped to such a level that he is targeting the MLAs and their families and registering false cases against them.

The three Independent MLAs, along with six Congress rebels, voted in favour of the BJP candidate in the Rajya Sabha elections last month.

Along with the three independent MLAs, six disqualified Congress MLAs are also set to join BJP and content elections on BJP tickets.

The Congress rebels are contemplating withdrawal of their plea from the Supreme Court in which they have challenged an order of the Assembly speaker disqualifying them, NewsDrum reported on Sunday.

A highly-placed source close to the former Congress MLAs said a move to withdraw the plea from the court is very much on the cards as they want to contest the Assembly bypolls from the seats that have fallen vacant after their disqualification.

The top court has listed their plea for hearing on May 6.

On March 18, the court refused to stay Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania's order disqualifying the lawmakers, who had cross-voted in the recent Rajya Sabha polls in the hill state.

A bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna had issued a notice to the speaker's office and sought a response within four weeks.

The apex court had said pending adjudication of their plea, the disqualified MLAs will not be allowed to vote or participate in the proceedings of the Assembly.

The filing of nominations for the six vacant Assembly seats starts on May 7.

The six Congress rebels -- Sudhir Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Rajinder Rana, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Chetanya Sharma and Devinder Kumar Bhutto -- were disqualified on February 29 for defying a party whip to be present in the House and vote in favour of the Himachal Pradesh government during a cut motion and budget.

Following the disqualification of the rebels, the effective strength of the House has gone down to 62 from 68, while the number of Congress MLAs has decreased to 34 from 40.

According to a notification issued by the Election Commission (EC) on March 16, bypolls are scheduled to be held in the Dharamshala, Sujanpur, Lahaul and Spiti, Barsar, Gagret and Kutlehar Assembly constituencies that fell vacant after the disqualification of the six lawmakers.

The petitioners have alleged violations of the principles of natural justice, claiming that they did not get an adequate opportunity to respond to the disqualification petition.

Announcing the disqualification of the six MLAs at a press conference on February 29, the speaker said they were disqualified under the anti-defection law as they defied the party whip. He ruled that they ceased to be members of the House with immediate effect.