Disqualified Congress MLAs, Independents likely to join BJP

New Delhi, Mar 23 (PTI) Several former MLAs of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly are expected to join the BJP and contest the upcoming bypolls on its ticket, sources said on Saturday, as the political crisis plaguing the state continues to rumble on.

Six rebel Congress MLAs — 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.

The Election Commission has announced bypolls for their constituencies.

Three Independent MLAs — Ashish Sharma, Hoshiyar Singh and KL Thakur — submitted their resignations on Friday. Bypolls are expected to be held for their seats as well.

“We have submitted our resignations. We will join the BJP and contest the elections on its ticket,” Singh had later told reporters.

The Congress government led by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu was last month plunged into a crisis after the BJP won the Rajya Sabha poll for the state’s lone seat due to the support of these nine MLAs.

Though Sukhu has been putting up a brave face and there appears to be no immediate threat to his government, the BJP is looking to bring down his dispensation with bypoll wins amid a view that it may draw more legislators of the ruling party into its fold.

With the disqualification of the six Congress MLAs, the strength of the ruling party came down from 39 to 33 in the now 62-member assembly. Its original strength is 68. The BJP has 25 members.

The Speaker, who can vote only in the case of a tie during a floor test, is affiliated to the Congress.

The resignations of the three Independent MLAs have further reduced the assembly’s strength.