CHANDIGARH : Six Congress MLAs from Himachal Pradesh and three independent legislators, who voted for the BJP in the recent Rajya Sabha elections, have been shifted to a resort at Rishikesh in Uttarakhand from Panchkula in Haryana, a development that shows that crisis still looms over the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led government.
Sources familiar with the development said the nine legislators flew from Chandigarh in a private plane to Dehradun from where they left for Rishikesh. “These lawmakers are likely to stay at the resort in Rishikesh until the Supreme Court hears their plea as they have challenged the speaker’s decision of disqualification,’’ said a source, adding a team of cosp have been deployed to provide security to the MLAs.
Addressing a public gathering in Kangra on Friday, Chief Minister Sukhu said, “These MLAs must have been shifted to unknown place as there was a lot of pressure on them from their family members to return home. These MLAs must be going through tough times as they would have realized by now that they have made a mistake. When they will eventually come out, they will have this regret of having tried to topple the government and weakening democracy,’’ he said.
When asked if any lawmakers were in touch with him, Sukhu said, “I am not in touch with any of these MLAs.’’ Uttarakhand Congress spokesperson Garima Mahara Dasoni said, “By bringing the rebel MLAs who were disqualified from the legislative assembly to Uttarakhand, the BJP has committed a ‘constitutional sin’.’’