Rajya Sabha Election Updates: Six Congress MLAs disqualified over crossvoting in

Himachal Pradesh News Update: Amid political upheaval in Himachal Pradesh following the Congress candidate’s defeat in the Rajya Sabha elections. In an unexpected blow to the ruling Congress in Himachal Pradesh, the BJP clinched victory in the state’s sole Rajya Sabha seat, with its candidate Harsh Mahajan defeating Congress veteran Abhishek Manu Singhvi.  

Following the defeat of the Congress candidate in the Rajya Sabha Elections, Kuldeep Singh Pathania, the Assembly speaker, acted on Thursday by disqualifying six Congress MLAs. These members had violated party lines by crossvoting in the recent Rajya Sabha polls and abstaining from voting on the Budget in defiance of a party directive to support the government on the Finance Bill. The disqualified MLAs include Rajinder Rana, Sudhir Sharma, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Devinder Kumar Bhutoo, Ravi Thakur, and Chetanya. 

In Himachal Pradesh Assembly of 68-member, 40 seats are with Congress, BJP has 25 legislators, and rest of the seats are accumulated by the individuals. A petition seeking disqualification of the six party MLAs was filed in the Himachal assembly on Wednesday. However, Himachal Pradesh Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania reserved his order on a Congress petition seeking disqualification of six party MLAs who cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha election. 

[Image Source: The New Indian Express]