Himachal Pradesh MLAs who defect to other parties won’t get pension: Congress govt passes new bill

The Congress-led government in Himachal Pradesh has passed a new bill in the assembly to stop the pensions of members disqualified under the anti-defection law.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu introduced the (Allowances and Pension of Members) Amendment Bill, 2024, in the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, September 3.

“A person shall not be entitled to a pension under the Act if he has been disqualified at any point of time under the tenth schedule of the Constitution (anti-defection law),” the bill says.

In February this year, under the anti-defection law, six Congress MLAs — Sudhir Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Rajinder Rana, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Chetanya Sharma and Devinder Kumar — were disqualified.

The MLAs had voted in favour of BJP nominee Harsh Mahajan in the Rajya Sabha elections.

They were disqualified for defying a party whip by abstaining from the house during the passing of the budget for 2024-25 and discussions on a cut motion.

Later, the bypolls were held; however, only Sudhir Sharma and Inder Dutt Lakhanpal won their seats. Four others lost their re-election bids.

Meanwhile, the Himachal government has been facing criticism over the delay in paying salaries and pensions to state Secretariat employees.

However, the chief minister said there is no financial crisis, and steps are being taken to maintain financial discipline.

"We are taking steps for resource mobilisation to make the state self- reliant... We want to have discussion on financial mismanagement and tell the 75 lakh people of the state that how the double engine government (BJP) had plundered the state exchequer by giving free electricity and water and opening over 600 health and educational institutions," he said.

Earlier, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu acknowledged the financial struggles in the House and announced a two-month deferment of salaries for himself, ministers, Chief Parliamentary Secretaries (CPS) and MLAs