11 Himachal MLAs move to U'khand, Union minister says Sukhu govt will soon fall
Congress MLAs who voted against party nominee Abhishek Manu Singhvi in the Rajya Sabha elections, along with three Independent lawmakers, have shifted to a hotel in BJP-ruled Uttarakhand amid an ongoing rebellion against Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. Two BJP MLAs Vikram Thakur and Trilok Jamwal from Himachal Pradesh were accompanying the legislators, who arrived in Rishikesh from Haryana's Panchkula by a chartered flight late on Friday and checked into Hotel Taj.
Congress MLAs Sudhir Sharma, Rajinder Rana, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Devinder Kumar Bhuttu, Ravindra Thakur and Chaitanya Sharma have since been disqualified for defying the party whip on the state budget.
They have approached the Supreme Court for relief in the matter.
Three Independent MLAs Hoshiar Singh, KL Thakur and Ashish Sharma were also with them when they arrived.
The Congress currently has 34 MLAs in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly while the BJP has 25. The three Independent MLAs had also sided with the BJP in the Rajya Sabha polls.
Security around the hotel has been tightened and no one is being allowed to enter the premises except those who have advance online bookings.
The hotel is located about 30 kilometres from Rishikesh along the Rishikesh-Badrinath Road.
The Congress has already stepped up efforts to set its house in order in Himachal Pradesh and is holding parleys with senior ministers of the state.
Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region BL Verma told reporters in Haridwar that the Congress
