In a swearing-in ceremony held yesterday at the Vidhan Sabha building in Shimla, six MLAs who recently won crucial by-elections took oath as members of the legislative assembly. The oath was administered by Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania in the presence of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, his deputy Mukesh Agnihotri and other dignitaries.
Of the six legislators, four from Gagret, Kutlehar, Sujanpur and Lahaul-Spiti constituencies belong to the Indian National Congress party. This takes their strength in the 68-member house to 38. The remaining two seats of Dharamsala and Barsar were claimed by the Bharatiya Janata Party, increasing their tally to 27.
Notably, Anuradha Rana who was inducted from Lahaul-Spiti is only the second woman MLA in the assembly. In his remarks, CM Sukhu emphasized that people had rejected attempts of horse-trading and expressed confidence in his government's agenda of development. He said candidates for upcoming bypolls would be finalized shortly.
The by-elections were necessitated after six Congress MLAs had cross-voted against the party's candidate in the Rajya Sabha elections, losing their membership as per the anti-defection law. While four seats returned to the ruling Congress fold, the BJP managed to snatch two suggestive of a closely fought contest on the Hill-state's political landscape.
