Disqualified Congress MLAs, Independents likely to join BJP

Several former MLAs of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly are expected to join the BJP and contest the upcoming bypolls on its ticket, sources said on Saturday, as the political crisis plaguing the state continues to rumble on.

Six rebel Congress MLAs — Sudhir Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Rajinder Rana, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Chetanya Sharma and Devinder Kumar Bhutto — were disqualified on February 29 for defying a party whip to be present in the House and vote in favour of the Himachal Pradesh government during a cut motion and budget.

The Election Commission has announced bypolls for their constituencies.