In a clear indication of mounting challenges for the ruling Congress in Himachal Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday nominated six disqualified Congress rebel MLAs for the Assembly by-polls, shortly after their defection to the BJP.
All six former Congress MLAs—Rajinder Singh Rana, Sudhir Sharma, Chaitanya Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, and Davinder Bhutto—had previously cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha election in support of BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan, opposing Congress’ senior leader Abhishek Mani Singhvi.
The BJP has put forth Ravi Thakur as their candidate from Lahaul-Spiti, Rajinder Rana from Sujanpur, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal from Barsar, Chaitanya Sharma from Gagret, and Devinder Kumar Bhutto from Kutlehar.
In addition to these six MLAs, three independent legislators—Hoshyar Singh, Ashish Sharma, and K.L. Thakur—also departed from the Sukhu camp to join the BJP, contributing to Singhvi’s defeat in the Rajya Sabha elections.
The rebel Congress MLAs officially joined the BJP on Saturday. Alongside them, three independent MLAs, who had resigned from their positions on Friday (March 22) in the presence of BJP leaders, also switched to the BJP, thereby bolstering the party’s position ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha and assembly elections.
Besides the elections in four Lok Sabha constituencies, Himachal Pradesh is set to witness bypolls in six assembly constituencies previously held by the rebel MLAs.
In the 68-member assembly, the ruling Congress had enjoyed a comfortable majority with the support of 43 MLAs—40 from its own ranks and three independents—following its victory in the 2022 assembly polls. The remaining 25 MLAs belonged to the BJP.
With the disqualification of the six rebel MLAs, the assembly’s strength decreased from 68 to 62, with the halfway mark set at 32. The Congress, now with 34 MLAs, and the BJP, along with independents, holding 28, will determine the Congress’ fate based on its ability to maintain unity within its ranks.
This underscores the importance for the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led government to deliver promising results in the upcoming bypolls.Additionally, the BJP also unveiled its candidates’ names for the by-polls in Gujarat, Karnataka, and West Bengal.
