Congress observer DK Shivakumar on Thursday meet Himachal Pradesh party leaders Vikramaditya Singh and Pratibha Singh in Shimla.
Shimla: Congress observer DK Shivakumar on Thursday meet Himachal Pradesh party leaders Vikramaditya Singh and Pratibha Singh in Shimla. After meeting the disgruntled leader, Shivakumar said all is well in the party and the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Himachal Pradesh government will stay in power for 5 years.
Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania today disqualified six Congress MLAs who had cross-voted in the recent Rajya Sabha polls for the lone seat in the state. They had also abstained from voting on the Budget in the assembly, defying a party whip to vote in favour of the government on the Finance Bill. This was stated to be the reason for their disqualification.
The disqualified MLAs are Rajinder Rana, Sudhir Sharma, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Devinder Kumar Bhutoo, Ravi Thakur and Chetanya Sharma. Amid the crisis, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu held a breakfast meeting with party MLAs at his official residence, in an apparent show of unity.
“It is just a get-together and let us see what happens in the meeting,” Harish Janartha, an MLA from Shimla Urban seat, said before the meeting.
What transpired at the meeting and how many MLAs were present there could not be ascertained immediately but most of the legislators asserted that the government was stable and would last its full term.
While the breakfast meeting was underway, Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker Pathania announced the disqualification of the six rebel Congress MLAs.
Addressing reporters here, Pathania, who reserved his verdict on the disqualification of the MLAs on Wednesday, said the legislators attracted the anti-defection law by defying the Congress whip as they were elected on the party’s tickets.
“These six MLAs are disqualified and cease to be members of Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly with immediate effect,” the Speaker said.