Show-cause notice issued to Independents

The three Independent legislators who had resigned from the assembly last week were on Wednesday issued a show-cause notice by the assembly speaker, officials said.

Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania has directed them to file replies by April 10 and would ascertain whether they had resigned voluntarily or “under duress”.

“It’s a tactic to delay the bypolls. Congress has sensed its defeat. Otherwise, there is no reason for delaying elections,” said Ashish Sharma.

Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania had maintained that the Independent MLAs have submitted their resignation but they have not cited their reasons. Congress legislators and chief minister Sukhvinder Singh have been vocal against the MLAs and have accused the BJP of pressurising them.

Congress MLAs Sanjay Avasthi and Bhuvneshwar Gaur have also registered a case of electoral offences, bribery and criminal conspiracy against Hamirpur independent MLA Ashish Sharma and Rakesh Sharma, father of Gagret MLA Chaitanya Sharma, who is among the six former Congress leaders.

All the three Independents had sought BJP tickets during the 2022 assembly polls but they were denied tickets and contested as Independents.

Later when the Congress formed the government with 40 legislators, the three Independents had supported the government. However, three Independent MLAs, along with six Congress rebels voted in favour of the BJP candidate in the Rajya Sabha elections last month.

With the disqualification of six Congress MLAs, the strength of the ruling Congress came down from 40 to 34, including the speaker, in the curtailed 62-member assembly. The BJP has 25 legislators.