THE JHARKHAND STORY DESK
Shimla, Feb 29: The six Congress MLAs who engaged in cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha elections were disqualified by Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania on Thursday.
Davinder K. Bhutto, Ravi Thakur, Sudhir Sharma, Rajinder Rana, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal and Chaitanya Sharma are the six MLAs who have been disqualified.
Kuldeep Singh Pathania, the speaker of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly, stated, “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.”
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Congress MLA and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Harsh Wardhan Chauhan filed a petition to disqualify the six MLAs under the anti-defection law.
In the 68-member state assembly following the 2022 Assembly elections, the Congress had 40 MLAs while the BJP had 25. Independents occupy the final three seats.
Following the disqualification of the six rebel MLAs, the total number of seats in the house has decreased from 68 to 62, setting the halfway mark at 32. With the departure of these MLAs, the Congress now holds 34 seats, while the BJP, along with independents, has 28.
The future success of the Congress will hinge on its capacity to maintain unity among its remaining members.
