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Disqualify Independent MLAs who joined BJP: Congress
Stepping up its diatribe against BJP, the opposition Congress demanded the disqualification of two Independent MLAs from the Vidhan Sabha for joining the saffron party
Stepping up its diatribe against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the opposition Congress demanded the disqualification of two Independent legislators from the Vidhan Sabha for joining the saffron party.
A first-time legislator from Dehra, Hoshiyar Singh, and Prakash Rana from Jogindernagar had joined the BJP in the presence of the chief minister Jai Ram Thakur and state party chief Suresh Kashyap on Wednesday.
Congress campaign panel head Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu demanded action under the anti-defection law against the two members.
“Vidhan Sabha speaker should take suo motu action and disqualify both the legislators from the membership of the House since they joined the BJP at the party office in Shimla,” said Sukhu.
“It’s unfortunate that both Hoshiyar Singh and Prakash Rana have played with the sentiments of the electorate in Dehra and Jogindernagar,” he said.
“People had given them mandate against the BJP. Now that they have joined the party, their membership should be cancelled immediately,” he said.
“There are many grounds for the disqualification of a member from the House if an elected member voluntarily gives up the membership of the party he has been elected from,” he said, adding that the party legislator will soon submit a memorandum to the speaker urging him to disqualify the two.
“I have reiterated numerous times that it was in 1998 that the BJP first formed the government in Himachal and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was in-charge of the party affairs in Himachal, played an instrumental role along with Prem Kumar Dhumal. It’s after years that the BJP is trying to weaken Dhumal’s position,” he said.
Sukhu refuted BJP’s claims that Congress was a fragmented party. “There is no division in Congress. It’s under well-planned strategy that attempts are being made to sideline Dhumal who has been CM twice,” he said, adding that two Independent legislators were taken into the arty fold without considering senior BJP leaders Gulab Singh Thakur and Ravinder Singh Ravi.
