SHIMLA, Mar 10:
The Himachal Pradesh Police on Sunday registered a case against an Independent MLA and the father of a Congress rebel and others over electoral offences related to the recent Rajya Sabha polls in which six party MLAs voted for the BJP candidate from the State.
The case against Hamirpur’s Independent MLA Ashish Sharma and Gagret’s now disqualified MLA Chetanya Sharma’s father and others was registered on the basis of a complaint lodged by Congress MLAs Sanjay Avasthi and Bhuvneshwar Gaur.
Ashish and Chetanya are among the nine MLAs, including six Congress rebels and three independents who voted in favour of the BJP nominee Harsh Mahajan in the recently held Rajya Sabha polls.
However, the alleged role of Chetanya’s father, a retired bureaucrat, is not known yet.
This triggered a crisis in the state’s Congress government, which appeared to have lost its majority in the assembly.
A case of criminal conspiracy, corruption practices and undue influence on election has been registered on the complaint of two Congress MLAs, police said on Sunday.
Adding a new dimension to the current political crisis in Himachal Pradesh, the two Congress MLAs Sanjay Avasthi and Bhuvneshwar Gaur on Sunday filed a complaint with the police seeking investigation into electoral offences, corrupt practices and criminal conspiracy in the whole sequence of events since the Rajya Sabha polls held on February 27.
This development has invoked sharp reactions from the MLAs.
“With this attitude, the CM should be ready to face the consequences in future,” said one of the six Congress rebels Rajinder Rana.
“If the CM thinks that he could win hearts by registering false complaints, he is mistaken. This kind of politics compelled the MLAs to vote in favour of the BJP, Rana said over phone on Sunday. Pressure tactics will not help, he cautioned.
Meanwhile, the two Congress legislators sought investigation on charges of money trading, misuse of helicopter and security forces and criminal misconduct, and said direct evidence is available that the BJP is paying for the transportation through choppers and accommodation in five star properties in Haryana and Uttarakhand.
They said there is enough evidence of the BJP legislators accompanying the Congress rebels and independents, and cited the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Sita Soren vs Union of India Case in the complaint.
Speaking to PTI, Chief Parliament Secretary Sanjay Avasthi said such illegal activities are unknown to Devbhoomi Himachal Pradesh and even the Supreme Court has ruled that the elected representatives are not immune to criminal proceedings for accepting money and favours and we demand investigation in the whole sequence of events.
Confirming that a complaint was received from two Congress MLAs in Boileauganj police station, Shimla Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi said that a case under sections 171 a and c (undue influence on elections) and 120 b (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and sections 7 and 8 (public servant taking undue advantage) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, has been registered and investigations have been started.
The six Congress MLAs namely Sudhir Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Rajinder Rana, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Chetanya Sharma and Devinder Kumar Bhutto who cross-voted in favour of the BJP were disqualified for defying a whip to be present in the House and vote in favour of the government during the cut motion and budget following which they moved the Supreme Court.
The three independents include Ashish Sharma, Hoshiyar Singh and K L Thakur. (PTI)
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