Three Independent MLAs on Saturday staged a protest on the premises of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly against Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania for not accepting their resignations.

They stated that it has been eight days since they tendered their resignation and have joined the BJP, however, their resignations have not been accepted by the Speaker.

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The protesting MLAs included Hoshyar Singh representing the Dehra Assembly constituency, Ashish Sharma, Hamirpur, and K L Thakur, Nalagarh.

They have also threatened to move the court if their resignations are not accepted.

These MLAs had initially agreed to support Congress candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi in the recently held Rajya Sabha elections for the lone seat in Himachal Pradesh. However, at the eleventh hour, they changed course and voted for BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan.

Despite the Congress government being in the majority with 40 seats, Singhvi suffered a shocking defeat as apart from the three Independent MLAs, who did not support him, six of the Congress members also cross-voted.

They submitted their resignation on March 22 and joined the BJP the very next day. They were keen to contest on BJP ticket from their respective Assembly constituencies, where they had previously won as Independent candidates in the 2022 elections.

“We have resigned voluntarily. However, our resignation has not been accepted for over a week. On the contrary, we have been issued a notice to submit a reply within 10 days,” Hoshyar Singh said.

Expressing serious doubts, Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi and Education Minister Rohit Thakur had complained to the Speaker seeking to know why the elected MLAs for five years resigned within 15 months.

Following their complaint, the Speaker issued notices to the Independent MLAs and sought their reply.

The MLAs have denied any kind of pressure to vote for BJP’s Harsh Mahajan, as it was their own personal choice not to vote for Singhvi who is an outsider and had fought a case against the construction of the Ram Temple, they stated.

They maintained that with no other options left, they were forced to sit in protest.

Meanwhile, Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla said that after submitting their resignations to the Speaker, the three MLAs also visited him and submitted a copy of their resignations to him as well.

Declining any intervention on his part, he said that the matter depends on the discretion of the Speaker.