Six Congress MLAs have been disqualified for cross-voting in Rajya Sabha polls

New Delhi:

Six Congress MLAs from Himachal Pradesh who cross-voted for the BJP in the Rajya Sabha election has been disqualified from the assembly, the Speaker announced today.

The BJP had clapped for and congratulated the six MLAs for their ‘bravery’ yesterday when they came to the assembly, after staying the previous night in BJP-ruled Haryana. Their kick, however, has gone wide.

The disqualified MLAs are Rajinder Rana, Sudhir Sharma, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Devinder Kumar Bhutoo, Ravi Thakur, and Chetanya Sharma.

Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania today said they have been disqualified for defying the party whip to vote in favour of the government on the Finance Bill in the house yesterday. The assembly passed the state Budget after the Speaker suspended 15 BJP MLAs.

The actions of the six MLAs violated the anti-defection law, the Speaker said.

For now, the MLAs’ disqualification has closed the chapter for the ruling Congress in Himachal Pradesh after a two-day scare over the BJP returning to power with a no-trust vote, since the six MLAs had voted for the state’s Opposition party in the Rajya Sabha election.

The BJP had deduced the six Congress MLAs no longer trusted the ruling party.