BJP fields 6 Congress rebels in Himachal Assembly bypolls

SHIMLA: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday named six former Congress MLAs, disqualified from the House, as its candidates for the Himachal Pradesh Assembly bypolls.

The BJP on Tuesday named its candidates for the Assembly bypolls in several states, including Gujarat, Sikkim, West Bengal and Karnataka.

It has fielded the six MLAs from the seats they held as Congress members before their disqualification. Sudhir Sharma has been nominated from Dharamshala, Ravi Thakur from Lahaul and Spiti, Rajinder Rana from Sujanpur, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal from Barsar, Chetanya Sharma from Gagret and Devinder Kumar Bhutto from Kutlehar.

All six of them switched over to the BJP from the Congress on March 23, nearly a month after being disqualified from the House for defying a party whip to be present and vote in favour of the Congress-led government during the cut motions and budget.

Shortly before the BJP list was released, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said, "People of Himachal are intelligent, they believe in democracy and will give a befitting reply to those practising 'aaya ram, gaya ram' culture in Dev Bhumi Himachal." Referring to the nine MLAs -- six Congress rebels and three independents -- who voted in favour of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha elections, Sukhu said they have "sold their souls" and should now face the public.

"We will face the political challenge on June 1, 2024, " he added. The Himachal Pradesh Assembly bypolls will be held on June 1, along with the election to the four Lok Sabha seats in the state -- Hamirpur, Shimla, Mandi and Kangra.

"We will go to the public with our performance in the past 25 months in which we have not only rectified the shortcomings of the previous BJP government but have also worked for the welfare of all sections of the society," Sukhu said.

In another development, former state minister and BJP leader from Lahaul and Spiti Ram Lal Markanda left the party and announced he would "definitely" contest the bypolls, "possibly" from the Congress.

Among the names announced by the BJP, Sudhir Sharma is a four-term MLA and former minister. Rajinder Rana defeated former chief minister and BJP candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal in 2017.

Three-time legislator Lakhanpal is a former chief parliamentary secretary, while Ravi Thakur, a two-time legislator, is a former chairman of the state Congress Seva Dal and ex-vice chairperson of the National Commission for Schedule Tribes.

Chetanya Sharma and Devinder Kumar Bhutto are first-time MLAs.

These MLAs and three Independents had voted in favour of the BJP nominee Harsh Mahajan in the Rajya Sabha polls held in the state on February 27, triggering a crisis for the Congress-led government in the state.

The three independents, Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur constituency), Hoshiyar Singh (Dehra) and K L Thakur (Nalagarh), submitted their resignation on March 22 and joined the BJP on the next day.

With the disqualification of six Congress MLAs, the strength of the ruling party came down from 40 to 34, including the Speaker who can vote only in the case of a tie during a floor test, in the 68-member Assembly. The BJP has 25 members.

Ever since the Rajya Sabha polls, the BJP and Congress have been trading charges with the ruling party slamming the opposition for hatching a conspiracy to topple the democratically elected government in the state by using money power and maintaining that the public will not forgive the Congress rebels for their betrayal.

The BJP has said that the Congress government is in the minority and the chief minister should have resigned on moral grounds. BJP leaders, the six Congress rebels and independent legislators also lashed at the government, especially Chief Minister Sukhu, for humiliating the MLAs and bringing development to a halt.

Rana on Saturday said more legislators were feeling suffocated in the Congress and were in contact with them. They will also show the courage to leave the Congress in the coming days, he claimed.

The rebels had slammed the Congress leadership for causing a "political disaster" and maintained that the state government was on a ventilator.

Humiliation of legislators led to this day and even the electorates of our constituency were unhappy with the government Sudhir Sharma had said.