Himachal: No Independent MLA in assembly for first time in state's electoral history

Shimla, Jul 13 (PTI) With the two-party system taking deep roots in Himachal Pradesh, and the Congress and the BJP coming to power alternately, the presence of Independents has been declining but for the first time in the electoral history of the state, the assembly has no independent MLA.

With victory in two out of three assembly by-elections, the strength of Congress has increased to 40. This is also the first time that a husband and wife -- CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Kamlesh Thakur -- would sit in the house. Kamlesh Thakur's win from Dehra assembly seat has taken the number of women legislators in the state to two.

In the 2022 assembly elections, three Independents namely Hoshiyar Singh (Dehra), Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur) and K L Thakur (Nalagarh) were elected but they resigned after voting for BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan in Rajya Sabha election on February 27.

The Independent MLAs resigned on March 22 and joined the BJP the next day. Their resignation was accepted by Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania on June 3 and by-elections were held on July 10.

All three former Independents legislators got tickets from the BJP but lost to Congress in two seats while the BJP won one seat.

During the election campaign, Chief Minister Sukhu had maintained that the Independent MLAs did not need to resign as "they can support or oppose any party" and questioned why they sought re-election after 15 months when they did not have to.

The Independent MLAs have played an important role in the state's electoral politics. Sixteen independents were elected in 1967 while 12 independents were elected in 1957, eight in 1952, seven each in 1972 and 1993, six each in 1977, 1982 and 2003, five in 2012, three each in 1962, 2007 and 2022, two each in 1985 and 2017 and one each in 1990 and 1998.

In 1998, Romesh Dhawala who was the lone Independent MLA, emerged king maker as the Congress with Dhawala's support and BJP-HVC (Himachal Vikas Congress) combine had 32 members each in the house which had an effective strength of 64. Elections in three snowbound tribal constituencies were slated for June while in another seat BJP MLA Varinder Kumar died before taking oath, necessitating a by-election.

Being the leader of the single-largest party, Governor V S Ramadevi invited Congress leader Virbhadra Singh to form the government on March 6, 1998 and Dhawala was inducted as a cabinet minister.

However, Virbhadra Singh announced his resignation in the house on March 12 without facing the floor test and the assembly was held in suspended animation by the governor.

In the meantime, Dhawala extended support to BJP-HVC combine and the governor asked the BJP to form the government and Prem Kumar Dhumal took oath as chief minister on March 24, and Dhawala was inducted as a minister in his cabinet.

Later that year, BJP-HVC won all four seats in the bypolls and the strength of the ruling alliance rose to 36 and the government lasted the full term.

In this year's Rajya Sabha election, too, after both candidates got 34 votes each, the support of three independents broke the deadlock and helped the BJP candidate win by a draw of lots. PTI