Himachal Congress Rebel MLAs Might Join BJP; Likely to Withdraw Disqualification Plea in SC

Six rebel MLAs of the Congress and three independent MLAs were seen at the residence of BJP National President, JP Nadda in Delhi on March 21, Thursday.

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s Himachal faction on Friday, March 22 has hinted that in a major political move, six rebel MLAs of the Congress party and three independent MLAs might wear saffron robes soon.

This hint comes after these nine MLAs were seen at the residence of BJP National President, JP Nadda in Delhi on the night of March 21. The meeting was also presided over by BJP state president Rajiv Bindal.

The six MLAs are Rajinder Rana, Sudhir Sharma, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Devinder Kumar Bhutoo, Ravi Thakur and Chetanya Sharma. These sitting Congress MLAs cross-voted in favour of the BJP in the recent Rajya Sabha elections and were disqualified.

However, the party led by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu is having a difficult time in trying to maintain the six seats, which include Sujanpur, Barsar, Gagret, Kutlehar, Dharamshala, and Lahaul-Spiti, given that the ripples of that revolt haven't yet subsided in the Congress.

Despite having the necessary number of votes, the Congress was unable to elect Abhishek Manu Singhvi as its nominee in the Rajya Sabha election that took place on February 27.

In addition to the backing of three Independents, the six Congress MLAs who voted in favor of the BJP's Harsh Mahajan contributed to his victory. The six Congress MLAs were disqualified on February 29 by the Speaker of the Himachal Assembly.

After resigning from the membership of the Assembly, Nalagarh MLA KL Thakur said that given the situation, he felt there was no need for continuing as an MLA. "There is no pressure on independents in Rajya Sabha elections. That's why we voted for whatever we thought was right," he added.

He also lashed out at the Congress saying the grand old party gave a Rajya Sabha ticket to an outsider candidate. "If we had voted for the Congress candidate, there would have been a question mark on us. Therefore, we did the right thing according to our ideology," he added.

He said that to avenge this move by them, FIRs have been filed, businesses closed.

After submitting his resignation to the Assembly Secretary, Ashish Sharma said that he was resigning on his own volition. Attacking the Chief Minister, he said that the CM is carrying out cheap politics and is not doing any developmental work.

Sharma made it clear that he will contest the elections from BJP and he has been assured of receiving a ticket from the party. According to Sharma, a total of nine leaders will contest the elections on BJP ticket. This includes six Congress rebels and three independent MLAs.

It is noteworthy that in the 2022 assembly elections, Hoshiar Singh from Dehra assembly seat, Ashish Sharma from Hamirpur assembly seat and KL Thakur from Nalagarh assembly seat won the election as independent candidates.

Thakur had won the election from Nalagarh on BJP ticket in the 2017 assembly elections, but in 2022, when the party did not give him the ticket, he won the election from Nalagarh as an independent candidate.

Hoshiar Singh had won the election from Dehra seat in 2017 as an independent candidate. Before the 2022 assembly elections, he joined the BJP camp but after not getting the ticket, he contested the elections as an independent candidate and reached the assembly after winning.

Congress had also tried to gamble with Sharma before the 2022 assembly elections. The party assured him of giving him the ticket but due to delay in announcing the ticket, Sharma won as an independent candidate.

All three independent MLAs of Himachal have resigned from the membership of the Assembly. These three MLAs also voted for the BJP candidate in Rajya Sabha. After submitting their resignations to the Assembly Secretary, all three will meet Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla.

On March 17, along with the Lok Sabha elections, the Election Commission also announced by-elections on vacant assembly seats across the country. These also include 6 seats of Himachal Pradesh which has become vacant due to the disqualification of rebel Congress MLAs by the Speaker.

With the resignation of the three independent MLAs, the question remains as to whether there will be by-elections in nine seats instead of six in the state. The Election Commission of India will take the final call in this matter.