Six newly elected legislators, including two from the Bharatiya Janata Party and four from the Indian National Congress, were sworn in by Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania at the Assembly seat in Shimla on Wednesday.
The ceremony was also attended by Himachal Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukh, Leader of Opposition (LoP) and former state Chief Minister Jairam Thakur, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri and other members of the state Legislative Assembly.
Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, the newly elected BJP state legislator from Balsar, was asked to read his oath twice after he did not say “I” at the beginning when Pathania administered it.
Other state legislators who took oath were Bharatiya Janata Party’s Sudheer Sharma from Dharamsala constituency, Indian National Congress’s Rakesh Kalia from Garguret constituency, Vivek Sharma from Kutulehar constituency, Captain Ranjit Singh from Sujanpur constituency and Anuradha Rana from Lahaul and Spiti constituency.
Speaking to reporters after the ceremony, Chief Minister Sukhbinder Singh Sukh accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of trying to destabilise the state government by “buying” six BJP lawmakers in the state assembly, four of whom lost their seats.
Meanwhile, LoP and BJP leader Jairam Thakur said, “The state government is a minority one. We have snatched four seats from the Congress in the 2024 Assembly elections. We have also snatched two seats from the Congress in six by-elections. This state government will not last for long.”
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Sharma said, “The Congress government led by Chief Minister Sukhu will not last long. By-elections have been announced for three seats — Dera, Hamirpur and Nalagarh. There is also the issue of six Chief Parliamentary Secretaries (CPS) pending in the Himachal Pradesh High Court.”
Currently, the Indian National Congress has 38 members while the Bharatiya Janata Party has 27 members in the state assembly. The total number of members in the Himachal Pradesh state assembly is 68.
By-elections for three seats left vacant after three independents resigned will be held on July 10. Results will be announced on July 13.
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