Shimla: Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania on Thursday disqualified six Congress legislators who had cross-voted for a BJP candidate in the recently concluded election to the Council of States from here.
The Speaker made his decision public in a press interaction connected to the decision he had taken in the case of six MLAs.
"I hold the respondents have incurred disqualification under para 2, clause 1, sub-clause A, of the Tenth Schedule (of the Constitution), and therefore, I hold and declare that the respondent numbers 1 to 6 cease to be members of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly with immediate effect," he read out from the disqualification order before the media. "This is the order. They ceased to be members of this august House," he added.
The disqualified six rebel Congress MLAs had abstained from voting on cut motion and finance bill (Budget) in the assembly, defying a party whip to vote in favour of the government. The ruling Congress regime's Prliamentary Affairs Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan had sought their disqualification on this ground.
A notification in this regard was issued on Thursday evening which further said that these six MLAs ceased to be members of Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly with effect from February 29.
"Consequent upon this, the seat of assembly constituencies Dharamshala, Lahaul and Spiti, Sujanpur, Barsar, Gagret and Kutlehar have fallen vacant and six vacancies have occurred in the Fourteenth Vidhan Sabha of HP," the notification said.
To Approach SC
The six MLAs who have been disqualified would appeal in the Supreme Court against the orders, one of the disqualified MLAs, Rajinder Rana said.
"Only one of the six MLAs received the notice on Whatsapp on February 27 night and we were present in the House on February 27 and 28," PTI quoted Rana as claiming.
The Basis for Disqualification
As per the anti-defection law, any elected member could be disqualified if he or she voluntarily gives up the membership of a political party or joins any other political party after the election, votes or abstains from any crucial voting contrary to the directive circulated by his/her respective political party.
The Congress party had issued whip to the members to be present in the House during voting on passing of the Budget. These MLAs had signed the attendance register but abstained from the House during voting on the Budget, the Speaker said.
These members were issued notices for defying the whip through Whatsapp and e-mail and were asked to appear for hearing.
The House Strength
The altered strength of the House is 62 and the number of Congress MLAs has shrunk from 40 to 34 after the disqualification of Congress rebels. The original strength of the House is 68. Also, this is for the first time in the history of Himachal Pradesh that any MLA has been disqualified under the anti-defection law aimed at checking defections.
The RS Election
On February 27, during the Rajya Sabha elections, six Congress members cross-voted. Three independent MLAs in the House too cast their votes in favour of the BJP candidate. This led to a tie with Congress candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi and the BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan getting equal number of votes - 34. Mahajan won the election in a draw of lots by the returning officer.
The cross-voting placed the Congress government in backfoot with BJP harping that the elected government did not enjoy the majority in the House to pass the Finance Bills and demanded a voting by division, which was rejected by the Speaker. On Wednesday, the BJP lawmakers met Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla and apprised him of how their request for division based voting was rejected in the House. The Governor later met with the Speaker.
Suspension of BJP MLAs
After meeting with the Governor, Pathania who chaired the proceedings of the House suspended 15 BJP MLAs in connection with the pandemonium and ruckus that unfolded near his office in the Assembly Premises. Following a walkout from the BJP members, the budget was passed. The House passed the Finance Bill by voice vote. Pathania adjourned the proceedings of the House sine die on Wednesday, one day ahead of the actual schedule.
Who are these six Congress MLAs who were disqualified?
- Rajendra Rana
Rajendra Rana was elected to the Assembly from the Sujanpur seat of Hamirpur district. He was a lawmaker in 2012 and 2017. He returned to the Assembly for the third consecutive time in 2022. Rana is a strongman who defeated the then Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Prem Kumar Dhumal in 2017. - Indra Dutt Lakhanpal
Indra Dutt Lakhanpal was an MLA representing the Badsar Assembly of Hamirpur district. He had been returning to the Assembly for the three consecutive terms since 2012. Lakhanpal and Rana, both hail from Hamirpur, the home district of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. - Sudhir Sharma
Sudhir Sharma is a four-time MLA from the Dharamshala seat in Kangra district. Before 2022, he had won the Assembly elections in 2003 and 2007 and in 2012. He was a cabinet minister in the Congress government formed in 2012. He returned to the House in 2022, after a decade. - Devendra Kumar Bhutto
Devendra Kumar Bhutto is a first time Congress MLA from the Kutlaihar Assembly seat of Una district. - Ravi Thakur
Ravi Thakur is a two-time legislator. He was first elected to the House in 2012. His second shot to return to the Assembly came in 2022. - Chaitanya Sharma
Chaitanya Sharma was a first time Congress MLA from the Gagret seat of Una district.
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