The BJP announced its candidates for the upcoming Himachal Pradesh Assembly by-polls, naming the six former Congress MLAs who had been disqualified from the Assembly and subsequently joined the BJP on March 23. Interestingly, these candidates have been selected to contest from the same seats they previously held as Congress members before their disqualification.
The named candidates include Sudhir Sharma for Dharamshala, Ravi Thakur for Lahaul and Spiti, Rajinder Rana for Sujanpur, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal for Barsar, Chetanya Sharma for Gagret, and Devinder Kumar Bhutto for Kutlehar.
In response to this development, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu accused the BJP of engaging in horse trading, asserting that the people of the state would respond accordingly.
The disqualification of these six MLAs stemmed from their defiance of a party whip to be present in the House and vote in favor of the ruling Congress during crucial legislative proceedings. Moreover, during the Rajya Sabha elections on February 27, these MLAs, along with three independents, notably supported the BJP candidate, Harsh Mahajan.
It's worth noting that the three independent MLAs—Ashish Sharma, Hoshiyar Singh, and KL Thakur—also submitted their resignations and joined the BJP on March 23, aligning themselves with the party.
The Assembly by-polls are scheduled for June 1, coinciding with elections for the four Lok Sabha seats in the state. With the disqualification of the six Congress MLAs, the ruling party's strength in the Assembly has reduced from 40 to 34, including the speaker, in the 68-member house, while the BJP currently holds 25 seats.