Leader Online Desk : Stating that action has been taken against the six Congress MLAs who cross-voted during the Rajya Sabha elections, Legislative Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Sig Pathania today (February 29) has disqualified six rebellious MLAs. Congress MLA and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harsh Vardhan Chouhan had filed a petition seeking disqualification of six rebel MLAs under the Anti-Defection Act. Congress candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi was defeated by BJP's Harsh Mahajan for the Himachal Pradesh Rajya Sabha seat due to cross voting by these six MLAs. (Himachal Political Crisis)
Legislative Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania heard both sides on Wednesday (February 28). Voting in favor of BJP's Rajya Sabha candidate despite issuance of whip. Apart from this, Congress MLAs Rajendra Rana, Sudhir Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Devendra Kumar Bhutto, Indradutt Lakhanpal and Chaitanya Sharma were accused of being absent in the House while approving the budget. Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Sig Pathania disqualified the rebel MLAs under the Anti-Defection Act today (February 29). (Himachal Political Crisis)
Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania says, “Six MLAs, who contested on Congress symbol, attracted provisions of anti-defection law against themselves…I declare that the six people cease to be members of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly with immediate effect.” pic.twitter.com/lxWMKGUREw
— ANI (@ANI) February 29, 2024
Speaking to the media, Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania said that a petition was filed by parliamentary ministers against the anti-defection law against six rebel Congress MLAs. All the rebel MLAs were given an opportunity to express their opinion. The hearing could have continued till 9 pm on Wednesday, February 28, but the record was submitted till 6 pm, the opposing counsel said. Advocate Satpal Jain sought time.
Kuldeep Singh Pathania said that the whip issued for the Congress Legislature Party has the signatures of all these MLAs. In such a situation there is no question of giving time. He said that even when the House was adjourned on Tuesday, the MLAs came and sat in the House, but were not present when the work began. . All these MLAs were found guilty under the Anti-Party Act.
The MLA was disqualified for violating the whip
Pathania said that the anti-defection law has been made to prevent MLAs from switching parties. These MLAs won the election on Congress tickets and the public trusted them. In such a situation, he has now violated the Anti-Defection Act by violating the party whip. He said that his membership was canceled because of that.
After the Rajya Sabha elections, the political events accelerated
After the Congress suffered a setback in the Rajya Sabha elections, the political events in Himachal Pradesh have picked up steam. Vikramaditya Singh, son of Congress leader Virbhadra Singh, resigned as minister. Minister of State Vikramaditya Singh resigned as minister this morning, accusing Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukkhu of neglecting MLAs and disrespecting his father and senior Congress leader late Virbhadra Singh. Meanwhile, 15 MLAs, including Leader of Opposition Jairam Thakur, were suspended for allegedly raising slogans and misbehaving in the Speaker's chamber. Vikramaditya Singh withdrew his resignation on Wednesday night after the day's rapid political developments. After this the curtain fell on the political drama in Himachal Pradesh.
Himachal Political Crisis: BJP wins Rajya Sabha elections
BJP's Harsh Mahajan defeated Congress' Abhishek Manu Singhvi in ​​a close contest for the lone Rajya Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh. From this it became clear that some MLAs of Congress had done cross voting. After this it is known that 6 MLAs of Congress are in touch with BJP.
The BJP candidate won with the support of 6 Congress MLAs and 3 independent MLAs. Due to this, the discussion started that Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukkhu's government has become unstable. It was also reported that Sukhu had submitted a proposal to the party leaders to resign from the post of Chief Minister. But after some time, Sukhu revealed that he had not resigned. Against this backdrop, the Congress party leaders sent senior leaders Bhupinder Singh Hooda and DK Shivakumar to persuade the disgruntled MLAs. (Rajya Sabha Election 2024)
Himachal Political Crisis: Suspension of 15 BJP MLAs
Vipin Singh Parmar, Randhir Sharma, Lokendra Kumar, Vinod Kumar, Hans Raj, Janak Raj, Balbir Verma, Trilok Jamwal, Surendra Shorey, Deep Raj, Puran Thakur, Inder Singh Gandhi along with Leader of Opposition Jairam Thakur on charges of raising slogans and misbehaving in the Speaker's Chamber , Dilip Thakur and 15 BJP MLAs were suspended today by the Assembly Speaker. Due to this, the work of the House was adjourned for some time. The 68-member House in Himachal Pradesh has 40 MLAs from the Congress, 25 from the BJP and three independents.
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