Himachal Pradesh Political Crises: Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker, Kuldeep Singh Pathania, on Thursday, disqualified six Congress MLAs under the anti-defection law, who cross-voted in favour of the BJP in the recently held Rajya Sabha polls.
“Six MLAs, who contested on the Congress symbol, attracted provisions of the anti-defection law against themselves… I declare that the six people cease to be members of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly with immediate effect,” Pathania said.
The disqualified MLAs are as follows: Rajinder Rana, Sudhir Sharma, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Devinder Kumar Bhutoo, Ravi Thakur and Chetanya Sharma.
The speaker disqualified the MLAs after a petition was filed by Congress MLA and parliamentary affairs minister Harsh Wardhan Chauhan under the anti-defection law.
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Addressing reporters in Shimla, Pathania who had reserved his verdict on disqualification on Wednesday, stated that the legislators attracted the anti-defection law by contravening the Congress whip, given their election on the party’s tickets.
“These six MLAs are disqualified and cease to be members of Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly with immediate effect,” the Speaker said.
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The disqualified Congress MLAs had cast cross-votes in support of BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan during the Rajya Sabha elections on Tuesday. Subsequently, they chose to abstain from voting on the budget in the assembly.
Following the suspension of 15 BJP MLAs by Pathania, the House approved the Finance Bill through a voice vote. The Speaker then adjourned the session.
The Congress-led state government is in turmoil after their six MLAs cross-voted against the party and are learnt to be in contact with the BJP. With 40 MLAs, the Congress holds a majority in the 68-member state assembly, while the BJP has 25 seats. Independents hold the remaining three seats. Despite the majority, Congress candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi lost the Rajya Sabha election to BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan due to cross-voting.
On Wednesday, the Speaker disclosed that the Parliamentary Affairs Minister had submitted a petition against the six defected Congress MLAs, citing the anti-defection law as the basis for initiating proceedings against them.
“When the petition came to me, then I, as a Speaker, had to function like a tribunal. The hearing regarding the same is underway,” he said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, responding to party members crossing-sides, said that all who cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha polls, were like his younger siblings, adding that his party believes in forgiveness and not revenge.
He assured reporters that the Congress government would fulfill its mandate and complete the full five-year term, despite the BJP’s claim that the Congress had lost its moral standing after losing the majority in the Assembly.
“Hum toh sab ko maaf karne wale log hai, hum badle ki bhavna se kaam karne wale log nahi hain (We believe in forgiveness, not revenge.) All fellow members of my party are like my younger brothers and sisters,” he said.