BJP Gives Tickets to 6 Disqualified Himachal MLAs Who Quit Congress to Join It

Shimla: The BJP on Tuesday gave tickets to all six Congress rebels who were disqualified after supporting the saffron party candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls.

Tickets were given to Sudhir Sharma from Dharamshala, Rajinder Rana from Sujanpur, Ravi Thakur from Lahaul-Spiti, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal from Barsar, Chaitanya Sharma from Gagret and Devender Bhutto from Kutlehar for the bypolls.

These seats became vacant due to the disqualification of the Congress MLAs under the Anti defection law for defying the party whip during the current motion and passing of the budget.

These six disqualified MLAs joined the BJP last week.

With the disqualification of the six Congress MLAs, the strength of the ruling Congress party came down from 39 to 33 in the now 62-member Himachal Assembly. Its original strength is 68. The BJP has 25 members.

The resignations of the three Independent MLAs and them joining the BJP have further led to problems in the Congress.