Himachal Pradesh: Three independent MPs resign from state Assembly and join BJP
Himachal Pradesh already has six constituencies where by-elections have been announced. With the acceptance of their resignations, three more seats in the assembly will become vacant.
Three independent MLAs resigned from the Himachal Pradesh Assembly on Friday and will join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The trio includes Krishna Lal Thakur from Nalagarh, Hoshiyar Singh from Dehra, and Ashish Sharma from Hamirpur. They submitted their resignations to Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha Secretary Yashpal Sharma.
With the acceptance of their resignations, three more seats in the assembly will become vacant. Himachal Pradesh already has six constituencies where by-elections have been announced. Announcement of by-elections for three additional Assembly constituencies is expected soon.
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Meanwhile, the six rebel Congress leaders held talks with BJP national president Jagat Prakash Nadda. The meeting was attended by Sudhir Sharma from Dharamshala, Ravi Thakur from Lahaul Spiti, Rajinder Rana from Sujanpur, Indra Dutt Lakhanpal from Barsar, Chaitanya Sharma from Gagret and Devendra Singh Bhutto from Kutlehar, reportedly discussed the possibility of joining the BJP.
Notably, Dr Rajiv Bindal, Himachal BJP president and a key figure in the state’s politics was also present at the meeting.
After meeting the Governor, the three independent legislators returned from Raj Bhavan. Hoshiyar Singh, one of the MPs who resigned, stated: “We have submitted our resignation to the President. We have completed the legal formalities today. I will contest on the BJP ticket. We will win by a huge margin. Everyone knows that this is a government fake. It’s been 14 months of nothing but lies. Not a single promise has been kept.”
Himachal CM Sukhu accuses BJP of ‘buying’ MLAs
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu accused the BJP of resorting to buying legislators due to a lack of people’s support and trust in their leaders. In a Hindi post on social media, Sukhu said: “We have the support of the people and our workers.” However, the Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly Jai Ram Thakur dismissed Sukhu’s allegation as baseless and advised him to reflect on his mistakes.
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Thakur further claimed that Congress leaders in Himachal Pradesh are hesitant to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and Assembly by-elections. Meanwhile, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sunder Singh dismissed reports of Congress rebels Sudhir Sharma and Rajinder Rana receiving threatening letters as “drama”. Singh accused the two MLAs of trying to divert attention from their exposed actions, alleging that they had betrayed the Congress by supporting the BJP in the recent Rajya Sabha polls.
Singh criticized the Congress rebels, stating that they had plotted to overthrow the Congress government and now “feel shy about showing their faces to the people”. He stressed that the Congress had respected them by making them MLAs, but they betrayed the party, leading to public resentment.
Disqualified Congress MLAs Rana and Sharma were allegedly sent a one-page handwritten threat letter, warning them to mend their ways to ensure the safety of their families, news agency PTI reported. The letter, written in Hindi, warned: “Stop provoking other legislators. If you do not change your ways, your families will not be safe. Consider this letter as the last warning.”
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