Himachal Pradesh crisis: 15 BJP MLAs suspended, House adjourned till noon

Early in the day, LoP Thakur had a discussion with Speaker Pathania in Shimla.

Political turmoil continued in Himachal Pradesh after the cross-voting by six MLAs of the ruling  Congress in the Rajya Sabha plunged the state government in a crisis .

Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania, on February 28, suspended 15 BJP MLAs, including Leader of Opposition (LoP) and former chief minister Jai Ram Thakur, and adjourned the House till noon.

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The suspension followed legislators' "disruptive behaviour" and chanting of slogans during the House proceedings, an ANI report said. State Parliamentary Affairs Minister moved a proposal in the House recommending the expulsion of the BJP MLAs following which the Speaker took the action and adjourned house proceedings till noon, states the report.

The 15 suspended BJP MLAs also include Vipin Singh Parmar, Randheer Sharma, Lokender Kumar, Vinod Kumar, Hans Raj, Janak Raj, Balbir Verma, Trilok Jamwal, Surender Shori, Deep Raj, Puran Thakur, Inder Singh Gandhi, Dileep Thakur, and Inder Singh Gandhi.

Taking a dig at Congress, Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, commented, "Regardless of the injustices committed by Congress, their efforts are futile. It is evident that the people of Himachal Pradesh were unwilling to embrace an outsider as the Congress candidate for the Rajya Sabha, and even their MLAs rejected this proposition. The incident provided an opportunity for the people to express their discontent. The Speaker's actions were deemed inappropriate, highlighting the party's lack of support if they are unable to garner sufficient numbers, setting a precedent".

Amid the chaos, members of the Opposition continued staging protests in the well of the house, ANI further mentioned in its report. The BJP has alleged that this is just the Congress' effort to prevent its government from falling in the state just ahead of the Budget session.

BJP's Harsh Mahajan won the state's lone Rajya Sabha seat on February 27, defeating Congress' Abhishek Manu Singhvi, with six party MLAs voting for the rival candidate.