New Delhi:

The six Congress MLAs who were disqualified by Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania on Thursday will seek legal recourse and approach the High Court to challenge the decision.

Six rebel Congress MLAs – Sudhir Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Rajinder Rana, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Chetanya Sharma and Davinder Kumar Bhutto – had violated the party whip by abstaining from voting on the finance bill in the Assembly during the recent Rajya Sabha elections. The ruling Congress party demanded his disqualification on the grounds of violating the party directive.

According to sources, a cabinet minister of Himachal Pradesh held a meeting with rebel MLAs in a hotel last night. Six rebel MLAs are reportedly working on their petition in the High Court.

This disqualification move has resulted in vacancies in the assembly constituencies Dharamshala, Lahaul and Spiti, Sujanpur, Barsar, Gagret and Kutlehar. This unprecedented disqualification under the anti-defection law has reduced the effective strength of the House from 68 to 62, reducing the number of Congress MLAs from 40 to 34. The opposition BJP now has 25 seats.

Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania announced the disqualification in a press conference citing violation of anti-defection law as the reason. Mr Pathania said the disqualified MLAs violated the party whip and as a result, they ceased to be members of the House immediately.

Senior advocate Satyapal Jain, representing the disqualified Congress MLAs, argued that the mandatory seven days were not given to respond to the notice and important documents were not provided.

The disqualification comes amid the backdrop of a major setback for the ruling Congress in the state, as the BJP secured Himachal’s lone Rajya Sabha seat. In the 30-page order, Mr Pathania, referring to historical examples of party-switching by MLAs, underlined the need for speedy decision in such cases to maintain the dignity of democracy and curb the “Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram” phenomenon. Did.

Congress central observer DK Shivakumar said on Thursday that the political turmoil in the state has now subsided.

At a joint press conference, which was attended by party leaders Bhupinder Hooda, Bhupesh Baghel, Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and Himachal Congress chief Pratibha Singh, Mr Shivkumar announced that all internal differences had been resolved, adding that there would be efforts to address them. A coordination committee has been formed for this. In any future internal matters, with the assurance that the Congress government will complete its full tenure in the hill state.

“All the MLAs have assured and taken oath to work together to save the party and the government,” Mr Shivakumar said.

Chief Minister Sukhu, who took responsibility for the defeat of Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi in ​​the Rajya Sabha elections, expressed confidence in his government.