SC decision on 6 rebels’ plea leaves Congress, BJP in quandary

Shimla: Both Congress and BJP are in a quandary after the Supreme Court (SC) did not grant stay on the disqualification of the six Congress rebels. They are in a fix over the declaration of candidates as the apex court will take a call on the for the Assembly byelections to the six seats of the rebel MLAs on May 6, a day before the election process begins.

It is against this backdrop that the BJP Legislature Party meeting was held here today to deliberate upon the development. Though the BJP top leadership will take the final call on the allocation of ticket to the six disqualified Congress legislators who cross-voted in favour of BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan in the Rajya Sabha elections recently.

The predicament of the six disqualified MLAs is even bigger, as they have no option but to wait for May 6 when the Supreme Court will give its verdict on the byelections in their segments. Now, It will be interesting to see whether whether the six rebels will return to their Assembly segments to prepare for the byelections or will continue to remain in a huddle outside the state.

Meanwhile, the nine BJP legislators, who are facing the threat of action following a complaint alleging breach of privilege and contempt by them during the passing of the Budget, today filed their replies. They refuted the allegations levelled against them under the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly, 1973.

The Vidhan Sabha Secretary had sought a written reply from the BJP MLAs by March 18 on a complaint filed by Ajay Solanki, Congress MLA from Nahan. Solanki had sought action against the nine BJP MLAs for creating a ruckus and insulting the office of the Speaker with their remarks and conduct on the floor of the House while the Budget was being passed.

The nine MLAs against whom the complaint has been filed are Satpal Singh Satti (Una), Vinod Kumar (Nachan), Hans Raj (Churah), Vipin Parmar (Sullah), Surinder Shourie (Banjar), Trilok Jamwal (Bilaspur), Inder Dutt Gandhi (Balh), Lokender Kumar (Anni) and Deep Raj (Karsog). They face the threat of action following complaint of breach of privilege and contempt while the Budget for year 2024-25 was being passed in the Vidhan Sabha on February 28.