Himachal Speaker disqualifies 6 Congress MLAs for defying whip

Shimla, February 29

Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kuldeep Pathania today disqualified six rebel Congress legislators from the membership of the Himachal Vidhan Sabha under the provision of the anti-defection law.

Pathania said the six MLAs had defied the party whip, attracting the provisions of the anti-defection law as they were not present in the House during the cut motion on the Health Department and the passing of the Finance Bill. “The six MLAs have incurred disqualification under 10th Schedule of the Constitution of India and The Members of Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly (Disqualification on ground of Defection) Rules, 1986. All six cease to be member of Himachal with immediate effect,” he announced at a press conference here today.”

The six MLAs who have been the disqualified are Sudhir Sharma (Dharamsala), Rajinder Rana (Sujanpur), Inder Dutt Lakhanpal (Barsar), Ravi Thakur (Lahaul-Spiti), Chaitanya Sharma (Gagret) and Davinder Bhutto (Kutlehar).

The Speaker has written a 30-page order in the first-ever disqualification of any MLA under the anti-defection law in the history of Himachal Pradesh. “The intention of the anti-defection law is to curb politics of ‘aaya ram -gaya ram’ and when you become a candidate of a political party and contest on its ticket, you must stay with that party,” he elaborated.

The petition against the six MLAs had been filed on the basis of a complaint by the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan on behalf of the Congress, seeking their disqualification from the House.

“In my capacity as chairman of the tribunal under the anti-defection law, I have given this verdict,” he said. When Speaker acts under the 10th Schedule then he does not enjoy the powers of a Speaker, but acts as Judge of the Tribunal, he added.

“As per this order, they cease to be MLAs of the Assembly though this order is subject to judicial scrutiny. The MLAs were present in the party meetings and have signed on the whip issued twice by the party but were not present during the voting on cut motion and passing of Budget,” said Pathania.

“Since, no whip is applicable for Rajya Sabha polls, I have not touched the issue. Though I still feel their conduct was unethical as they have been elected as candidates of a particular party,” said Pathania.

The Speaker said they were informed for personal appearance on whatspap and e-Vidhan Sabha. “Since the Evidence Act has been amended, the six MLAs had been informed on whatsapp and on e-Vidhan Sabha about the disqualification proceedings,” said Pathania.

“I gave exhaustive hearing to the lawyers of both sides and they produced the entire record,” he said. He added BJP lawyer Satya Pal Jain was seeking more time which was denied as the petition clearly discloses that the six legislators defied the whip issued by the Congress.

The rebels

Sudhir Sharma
Constituency: Dharamsala (Kangra)
Age: 51

Son of late Pandit Sant Ram, who had been a minister in the Congress government, he is a four-time MLA. He was the Urban Development Minister in the Congress government (2012-17). Sudhir said: He was first elected in 2003 from Baijnath Constituency. “The MLAs are not being allowed to function in their constituency. The government did not release Rs 30 crore for the Kangra Central University.”

Rajinder Rana
Sujanpur, Hamirpur
Age 57

A three-time MLA, he had created a flutter by defeating BJP’s chief ministerial candidate PK Dhumal in the 2017 elections. Until 2012, he had been a close confidante of Dhumal. Denied ticket in 2012, he had joined the Congress. He said: “We had been suffering humiliation for the past 14 months and despite apprising the high command of it, there was no action. So we were compelled to take this step.”

Ravi Thakur
Constituency: Lahaul and Spiti
Age: 61

His mother Lata Thakur was an MLA from Lahaul -Spiti and was close to Rajiv Gandhi. A two-time MLA, he had been chairman of the State Congress Seva Dal, and chairman, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, from 2013-16. He is said to be upset with the Chief Minister as developmental works were not being carried out in his constituency

ID Lakhanpal
Barsar, Hamirpur
Age: 61

A third-time MLA from Barsar, Lakhanpal is considered a grounded leader. He has remained associated with the Congress Sewa Dal and Congress since his college days. On his reason of rebellion, he says: “I had informed the CM several times that our party workers were upset but he did not pay any heed. The workers would tell me that panchayat pradhan was getting more works done than me, which was humiliating.”

Davinder Kumar Bhutto
Kutlehar, Una
Age: 50

He is the first time MLA, remained vice-chairman of BDC, Bangana. He joined the Congress in 2013 after quitting the BJP. A government contractor, he started his political career by contesting posts of the local bodies. He is said to be upset as he did not have the power to get even a peon transferred, and lack of development works in his constituency

Chaitanya Sharma
Gagret, Una
Age: 29

The youngest MLA in the current Vidhan Sabha, he was Member of Una zila parishad from 2020-23. He had won the zila parishad elections with the highest margin in the state. Son of a former Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand, his first choice to contest the Assembly elections was the BJP. The MLA is not known to have aired any grievances against the government publically.

Order subject to judicial scrutiny

As per this order, they cease to be MLAs of the Assembly though this order is subject to judicial scrutiny. The MLAs were present in the party meetings and have signed on the whip issued twice by the party but were not present during the voting on cut motion and passing of Budget. I feel their conduct was unethical as they have been elected as candidates of a particular party. — Kuldeep Pathania, Speaker