Amid the continuous political turmoil in the state, six former MLAs of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly, who were disqualified as Congress legislators after defying a party whip, joined the BJP on Saturday.
The six MLAs joined the BJP in the presence of Union Minister Anurag Thakur, former Himachal chief minister Jai Ram Thakur and its state unit president Rajeev Bindal, PTI reported.
Thakur on the occasion said their presence will strengthen the BJP further as he accused the Congress government in the state of failing to fulfil its promises, leading to all-round anger among people, the report said.
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Thakur said these leaders supported the BJP in the recent Rajya Sabha election, reflecting "public anger" against the Congress.
Those who joined the BJP include Sudhir Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Rajinder Rana, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Chetanya Sharma and Devinder Kumar Bhutto. All the six MLAs were elected on a Congress ticket and 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.
The Election Commission has announced bypolls for their constituencies and they are expected to contest as BJP candidates.
Meanwhile, three Independent MLAs—Ashish Sharma, Hoshiyar Singh and KL Thakur—who submitted their resignations on Friday, are also likely to join the BJP soon.
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Last month, the Congress government led by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu was 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.
Sukhu has been putting up a brave face and there appears to be no immediate threat to his government, however the BJP is aiming to bring down his dispensation with bypoll wins amid a view that it may draw more legislators of the ruling party into its fold.
Congress currently has 33 members in the now 62-member assembly. Its original strength is 68. The BJP has 25 members.
