No HP High Court relief to 3 Independents a setback to BJP

KS Tomar

The split verdict of the High Court (HC) regarding the plea of three Independent members to direct Himachal Assembly Speaker, Kuldeep Singh Pathania, to accept their resignation is seen as a setback to the BJP’s strategy to create circumstances conducive to holding by-elections along with six other bypolls and the Lok Sabha election on June 1.

Acting within ambit of law: speaker

Speaker Pathania insists that he is acting within the ambit of the law and will only act when convinced of the genuine intentions of the MLAs to resign, these should be free from coercion, temptation or pressure from any quarter. They were directed to appear before the Speaker to provide an evidence for their sudden resignation from the House, but chose to ignore the same.

Contrary to the expectations, the split verdict places the responsibility on a single bench, and whatever its outcome, it may face further challenge in the Supreme Court, thereby causing an inordinate delay. Even if the apex court provides relief, the matter will be sent to the Speaker for action, who may prolong the process under various pretexts, as seen in the Maharashtra Speaker’s case, though he denies it.

Constitutional experts suggest two potential scenarios in this legal matter. Firstly, if the Speaker keeps the matter hanging, their optimism of participating in any future political manoeuvres will be in limbo. Secondly, the issuance of the notifications for four seats and six bypolls have effectively ruled out their inclusion in the election schedule, as a minimum of 45 days is required to complete the formalities and procedures.

Political implications

Political observers feel that Speaker Pathania, a lawyer himself, previously disqualified six Congress MLAs for violating the whip during voting on a finance bill in the Vidhan Sabha, ultimately saving the 15-month-old Sukhu government. When rebels did not find relief from the Supreme Court, they withdrew their petition. Now, the second round has also put the ball in his court who has been delaying the acceptance of the resignations tendered by the three Independents.

Pathania insists that he is acting within the ambit of the law and will only act when convinced of the genuine intentions of the MLAs to resign which should be free from coercion, temptation or pressure from any quarter.

They were directed to appear before the Speaker to provide an evidence for their sudden resignation from the House, but chose to ignore the same. At this juncture, some senior BJP leaders have expressed apprehensions about the next move of the Speaker, who may disqualify the three independents at an “appropriate time” during trust vote, reducing the House’s strength from 62 to 59.

The Congress party has 34 MLAs, and even if six rebels win, the BJP’s count will rise to 31 from 25 only in the house of 65, thereby requiring four more defectors to topple the government.

BJP claim on new govt after polls

Despite the initial failed attempt to bring down the Sukhu government, senior BJP leaders are persistently claiming the possibility of forming a new government in the state after Narendra Modi’s anticipated victory in the parliamentary polls in June. The CM has made defection of party MLAs an election issue, expecting voters to punish them. Nonetheless, experts observe that the BJP high command has demonstrated its expertise in toppling elected governments, as seen in Karnataka, Maharashtra etc, so it may target the Sukhu government after the poll results.

(The writer is a political analyst & senior journalist based in Shimla)