Six Congress leaders from Himachal Pradesh who had crossed-voted for the BJP candidate in the State’s Rajya Sabha elections were disqualified, according to the Supreme Court, which refused to reverse the decision. Rather, it sent notice to the responders about their petition contesting the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly’s decision.
“We are not going to stay the disqualification,” stated the apex court.
A bench comprising justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta also rejected the six MLAs’ request to vote or participate in the House proceedings. The top court scheduled the matter for the second week of May.
The court was informed about the announcement of the general elections date and the notification of the nomination filing date for this May.
On February 29, Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania disqualified six Congress MLAs Sudhir Sharma, Rajinder Rana, Davinder K Bhutto, Ravi Thakur, Chaitanya Sharma, and Inder Dutt Lakhanpal under the anti-defection law.
Following the 2022 Assembly elections, the Congress had 40 MLAs, while the BJP had 25 in the 68-member state assembly. The remaining three seats were held by independents.
In the recent Rajya Sabha election voting, although the BJP had only 25 MLAs, it managed to secure nine additional votes, resulting in a 34-34 tie, with three Independents and six Congress MLAs cross-voting for the BJP candidate.
BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan emerged victorious in the contest, defeating the Congress nominee Abhishek Singhvi after the result was determined by drawing lots.
