6 Congress rebels, 3 Independent MLAs in Himachal join BJP

Nine former Himachal Pradesh MLAs, including six disqualified Congress legislators and three Independents who resigned, joined the BJP on Saturday amid the continuing political crisis in the state.

The former lawmakers slammed the Congress government in the state headed by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, saying development work has stalled since it came to power.

They joined the BJP in the presence of Union Minister Anurag Thakur, former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur, its national general secretary Arun Singh and state unit president Rajeev Bindal.

Welcoming the former lawmakers into the party, Anurag Thakur said their presence will further strengthen the BJP as he accused the Congress government in the state of failing to fulfil its promises, leading to all-round anger among people.

Anurag Thakur said six of the former lawmakers, despite being Congress MLAs, supported the BJP in the recent Rajya Sabha election as they chose to reflect the "public anger" against the Sukhu government.

The former Congress MLAs who joined the BJP are Sudhir Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Rajinder Rana, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Chetanya Sharma and Devinder Kumar Bhutto -- all disqualified on February 29 for defying a party whip to be present in the House and vote in favour of the state government during a cut motion and budget.

Ashish Sharma, Hoshiyar Singh and KL Thakur, who were elected as Independents and resigned on Friday, also joined the BJP, with Singh saying they decided to be part of the country's development journey under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Development works in the state have stopped since the Congress came to power, he said.

BJP leaders cited a host of development measures taken by the Modi government for the state, including highway and rail projects, and said the former MLAs decided to strengthen the prime minister's leadership.

These former lawmakers will be given due respect in the BJP, they said.

They are expected to contest the bypolls from their respective seats as candidates of the saffron party.

Jai Ram Thakur described the six former Congress MLAs' joining the BJP as a big political development for such a small state, noting that several of these leaders had held senior positions within the party.

The former Congress leaders slammed the party, saying its national leadership is no longer visible and offers no vision for the country, leading to its "disintegration".

Sharma, a four-term MLA, alleged that there is no atmosphere for development in the state while the Congress is disintegrating because its leadership lacks vision for the country and has nothing to offer except criticism of Modi.

Rana echoed his view and blamed the Congress leadership for causing a "political disaster" and said they are hopeful of putting the hill state on the path to development, a pointer to the BJP's efforts to bring down the government through bypoll wins and further defections from the grand old party.

"We want to contribute to the development of the country," he said.

The Election Commission has announced bypolls for the six constituencies held by these former Congress MLAs.

Bypolls are expected to be announced on the three seats held by the Independents too.

The Congress government was last month plunged into a crisis after the BJP won the Rajya Sabha poll for the state's lone seat due to the support of these nine MLAs.

Though Sukhu has been putting up a brave face and there appears to be no immediate threat to his government, the BJP is looking to bring down his dispensation with bypoll wins amid a view that it may draw more legislators of the ruling party into its fold.

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

The Speaker, who can vote only in the case of a tie during a floor test, is affiliated to the Congress.

The resignations of the three Independent MLAs have further reduced the assembly's strength.