HP: Three Individual MLAs staged dharna, want Speaker to accept resignations
Shimla: In a piquant situation, three independent MLAs who had resigned from the state Assembly last week and joined the BJP thereafter staged a dharna in the ‘Vidhan Sabha’ complex on Saturday to build pressure on the Speaker to accept their resignations.
Speaker Kuldeep Pathania, currently on a foreign tour, has not yet accepted the resignations of the MLAs since March 22 and had rather asked them some questions to satisfy him whether they had resigned voluntarily and without any pressure.
The MLAs—Hoshiar Singh (Dehra), Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur), and K L Thakur (Nalagarh) had cross-voted for the BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan in the Rajya Sabha poll on February 6 alongwith six congress rebels.
The Congress rebels were disqualified by the Speaker on February 29 and now have been admitted to the BJP and given tickets to contest the bypoll but the fate of independents hangs in the balance despite their entry into the BJP.
The by-election on the seats having fallen vacant due to the disqualification of six Congress rebels is slated to be held on June 1 simultaneously with Lok Sabha polls.
Even as the BJP had admitted the independents in the party to pre-empt the ruling congress game plan to win back their support, the strength of the Congress has been reduced to 34 in the 68-member House –one short of majority.
Had any independent returned back to the Congress, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu could have easily lured him.
But, now the independents are finding themselves caught-up in a bizarre situation.
Ashish Sharma, Independent sitting at Dharna said all the three MLAs had submitted resignations without any pressure. It was a voluntary action to seek a fresh mandate from the people.
The Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania was deliberately gaining time and had sent notice asking for a response on reasons for resignation.
He said the allegations of horse trading made against him were completely baseless. “I am a first-time MLA, I have not come to do politics, I have come to serve” he said also adding that he voted against Abhishek Manu Singhvi, the congress candidate as a matter of his conscience.
“Singhvi was an outsider fielded by the Congress. Moreover, he had appeared as the opposite lawyer in the Ram Temple construction case” said Sharma.Hoshiar Singh, another Independent MLA from Dehra said that the Assembly Speaker and the Assembly Secretariat had no reason to delay acceptance of the resignations.
“Our resignation should have been accepted as was done without any pressure. The allegations of horse trading being made against us are also completely baseless. We joined the BJP to strengthen Narendra Modi,” he said
Nalagarh MLA K L Thakur said the government has lost confidence and has not lived up to the promises it made.
This is the first time in Himachal Pradesh history that MLAs had staged a dharna asking the Speaker to accept their resignations from the House.
