Gyan Thakur/Our representative
Shimla, March 23
Six rebel Congress MLAs and 3 independent MLAs, who had caused Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu’s political crisis by cross-voting in favor of BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan in the Rajya Sabha elections from Himachal Pradesh, today joined the BJP. All these MLAs joined BJP today in the presence of the party high command and state leadership in Delhi. With this, the ongoing political speculations regarding these rebel and independent MLAs have come to an end. These 6 rebel Congress and 3 independent MLAs took membership of BJP in the presence of Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur, Leader of Opposition Jairam Thakur, State BJP President Rajiv Bindal, Rajya Sabha MP Harsh Mahajan and central leaders.
Three independent MLAs had resigned from the membership of the Assembly on Friday. However, the resignation has not yet been accepted by the Assembly Speaker. After today’s developments, by-elections for 6 assembly seats are certain, while the situation regarding the circles of 3 independent MLAs will become clear after their resignations are accepted. It is expected that along with 6 assembly seats, by-elections may also be held in 3 other assembly constituencies.
It is noteworthy that the rebel leaders of Congress had challenged the membership of the Assembly in the Supreme Court, but the apex court had refused to stay. Hearing on this is also going on. There is a possibility that Congress rebels may also withdraw their petition from the Supreme Court. The six rebel Congress MLAs who joined BJP include Sudhir Sharma, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Rajendra Rana, Ravi Thakur, Devendra Bhutto and Chaitanya Sharma. Independents include Hoshayar Singh, KL Thakur and Ashish Sharma.
