The assembly in Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh has expelled 15 BJP MLAs over shouting slogans and alleged misconduct. The development comes amid the tension in the ruling Congress a day after six Congress MLAs cross-voted in favour of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha election.
The Speaker today took the decision to expel the 15 BJP MLAs just as the Budget session of the assembly was about to start. They allegedly shouted slogans inside the chamber of the Speaker, Kuldeep Singh Pathania.
The expelled BJP MLAs are Jairam Thakur, Vipin Singh Parmar, Randheer Sharma, Lokender Kumar, Vinod Kumar, Hans Raj, Janak Raj, Balbir Verma, Trilok Jamwal, Surender Shori, Deep Raj, Puran Thakur, Inder Singh Gandhi, Dileep Thakur, and Inder Singh Gandhi.
Jairam Thakur earlier today raised concerns they would be expelled. “We are apprehensive that Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania might suspend the BJP MLAs so that the budget can be passed in the Vidhan Sabha,” Mr Thakur told reporters, news agency PTI reported.
The BJP yesterday won the only Rajya Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh with its candidate Harsh Mahajan defeating Congress’s Abhishek Manu Singhvi due to cross-voting by six MLAs of the ruling Congress.
Mr Thakur said the Rajya Sabha election made it clear the Congress government was in a minority, and demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
