Days after Supreme Court rejected their plea against disqualification, the six rebel Congress leaders from Himachal Pradesh, joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday. The development came after the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced byelections on their seats and it is widely expected that they will contest the byelections on BJP’s ticket. After joining the saffron party, former Gagret MLA Chaitanya Sharma revealed why they voted for a BJP candidate during the Rajya Sabha elections.
“… What went behind all this needs to be discussed in great detail in the coming days. Talking about Rajya Sabha elections, within the rights guaranteed to us by the Constitution, every citizen is eligible to vote as per their conscience. We have just exercised our right and voted for a resident of Himachal Pradesh Harsh Mahajan… If the thoughts and ideas of a person are suppressed, and the person is sidelined, it is not just a loss of the person’s self-respect but it is also a loss of the people who’ve elected the person…” rebel Himachal MLA Chaitanya Sharma told news agency ANI after joining BJP.
Himachal Pradesh Congress crisis
Six Congress MLAs were disqualified from the Himachal Pradesh Assembly after they cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha elections, which led to the victory of BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan. Despite having a comfortable majority in the hill state, the CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led government faced a humiliating loss as its candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi lost the bid to the Upper House of the Parliament.
On Saturday, the six rebel leaders- Sudhir Sharma (Dharamshala), Ravi Thakur (Lahaul-Spiti), Rajinder Rana (Sujanpur), Inder Dutt Lakhanpal (Barsar), Chaitanya Sharma (Gagret) and Devinder Kumar (Kutlehar) joined BJP. Their joining came a day after the three independent MLAs in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly resigned from their position to join the saffron party.
“We have taken this decision in the interest of the state and the constituency. The way this nation is moving forward under the leadership of PM Modi, it will be our fortune if we contribute something to it. No developmental work has been done under this govt and is on a ventilator. It’s a minority govt that won’t last long,” one of the three independent MLAs of Himachal Pradesh, Ashish Sharma said.
After the intense developments, the strength of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly came down to 59 from 68. Congress is still strong with 34 MLAs while the BJP has rest 25. The byelections for the six seats of Himachal Pradesh are scheduled with the Lok Sabha elections 2024 on June 1.
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it’s all here, just a click away! Login Now!
Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.
Published: 23 Mar 2024, 03:33 PM IST
