Himachal Pradesh: 3 Independent MLAs Resign From State Assembly, Set To Join BJP

(With Inputs By Ankush Dobhal)

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 the Secretary of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly, Yashpal Sharma.

#WATCH | Shimla, Himachal Pradesh: Three independent MLAs resign from State Assembly. They will join the BJP. pic.twitter.com/wY6r4RvOGt

— ANI (@ANI) March 22, 2024

According to news agency ANI, Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania has not accepted the resignations. "We have received their resignations but we are examining the rules and constitutional provisions for this, so far we have not accepted their resignations," he was quoted as saying.

Himachal Pradesh already has six assembly constituencies where byelections have been announced.

Meanwhile, all six rebel Congress leaders held discussions 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 Bhuttoo from Kutlehar, reportedly discussed the possibility of joining the BJP.

Notably, Dr. Rajiv Bindal, the president of the Himachal BJP and a key figure in the state's politics, was also present at the meeting.

After meeting with the Governor, the three independent legislators returned from Raj Bhavan. Hoshiyar Singh, one of the resigning MLAs, stated, "We have submitted our resignation to the Speaker. 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 false government. It's been 14 months of nothing but lies. Not a single promise has been fulfilled."

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 support from the people and confidence in its leaders. In a social media post in Hindi, Sukhu asserted, "We have the support of people as well as our workers." However, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, Jai Ram Thakur, dismissed Sukhu's allegation as baseless and advised him to reflect on his mistakes.

Thakur further claimed that Congress leaders in Himachal Pradesh are hesitant to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha election and Assembly bypolls. 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 attempting 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 criticised the Congress rebels, stating that they had conspired to topple the Congress government and are now "feeling shy of showing their faces to people." He emphasised that the Congress had given them respect by making them MLAs but they betrayed the party, leading to public resentment.

The disqualified Congress MLAs, Rana and Sharma, reportedly received a handwritten one-page threat letter, warning them to mend their ways to ensure the safety of their families, news agency PTI reported. The letter, written in Hindi, cautioned, "Stop provoking other legislators. If you do not mend your ways, your families will not be safe. Consider this letter as the last warning."