Himachal Pradesh Political Crisis: Six rebel Congress MLAs disqualified. What lies ahead for the hill state?

livemint.com:

Rajya Sabha elections. With this, the six MLAs cease to be members of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly. After the disqualification, the Congress government has, for now, survived in Himachal Pradesh after a two-day scare over its future due to cross-voting by six of its MLAs in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate in the Rajya Sabha election on February 27.

The strength of the house after the disqualification, pending judicial scrutiny, comes down to 62. The Congress now has 34 MLAs in the house, with 32 being the majority mark. Three independent MLAs who supported the Congress also cross-voted for the BJP in the Rajya Sabha election.

The BJP had demanded a trust vote soon after the Congress lost the Rajya Sabha polls due to defections. Former Chief Minister, Jairam Thakur, and other leaders claimed that the Congress party had lost the majority in the house. However, the Congress government passed the budget on Wednesday, February 28, while 25 BJP MLAs were not present in the house after 15 of them were suspended.

Also, the disqualification of six rebel MLAs has changed the dynamics. Follow Live Updates on Himachal Pradesh Political Crisis Here "Our experts will analyse the situation, and after looking at their judgments, we will take a decision. It is too early to say anything.

Congress was totally exposed in the Rajya Sabha elections. Congress has lost its opportunity. Morally, they have no right to stay in power and the emotions of the people of Himachal Pradesh are clear from this," Rajeev Bindal, Himachal Pradesh BJP president, told news agency ANI.