Himachal Pradesh: Six newly elected MLAs took oath
Shimla: Six newly elected MLAs Rakesh Kalia, Vivek Sharma, Ranjit Rana, Anuradha Rana, Sudhir Sharma and Indra Dutt Lakhanpal were today administered oath by Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania. Out of the six MLAs, four belong to the Congress from Gagret, Kutlehar, Sujanpur and Lahaul-Spiti, taking the party’s tally in the Assembly to 38 from 34. The BJP won two seats of Dharamshala and Hamirpur’s Barsar.
With the victory of newly elected MLA Anuradha Rana from Lahaul-Spiti, the number of women MLAs in the Assembly has gone up to two. Till now, the only woman MLA in the House was Reena Kashyap from Pachhad. Chief Minister Sukhwinder Sukhu, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, Deputy Speaker Vinay Kumar, ministers and MLAs were present on the occasion. Later, while talking to the media, Sukhu said that the BJP’s claim to form the government in the state has failed as people have elected four Congress candidates in the Assembly by-elections. The Congress has strengthened its position in the Assembly by taking its number of MLAs to 38. Sukhu said his government will continue its efforts to make Himachal self-reliant. “The people of the state have rejected the politics of horse-trading, as four turncoat MLAs have faced defeat in the by-elections,” Sukhu said. He said the Congress is ready for the upcoming assembly by-elections, for which the names of candidates will be finalised soon. Six Congress MLAs had cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha elections. With four MLAs of the ruling Congress, the party’s number of MLAs in the 68-member assembly has gone up to 38, while the assembly’s strength has come down to 65 after the resignation of three independent MLAs. The by-elections were necessitated after six Congress MLAs cross-voted against the party’s candidate in the Rajya Sabha elections. The Congress won four of the six seats, while the BJP won two. The Election Commission on Monday announced by-elections in three more assembly constituencies on July 10 due to the resignation of sitting members, all independents.
