North News

Shimla, September 4

In a significant political move, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu introduced a Bill in the state Assembly aimed at ending pensions for disqualified MLAs under the anti-defection law. The Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly (Allowances and Pension of Members) Amendment Bill 2024 stipulates that “a person shall not be entitled to a pension under the Act if they have been disqualified at any point under the tenth schedule of the Constitution (anti-defection law).” This development comes after six Congress MLAs—Sudhir Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Rajinder Rana, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Chetanya Sharma, and Devinder Kumar—were disqualified under the anti-defection law in February. While Sudhir Sharma and Inder Dutt Lakhanpal later re-entered the House through bypoll victories, the remaining four were unsuccessful in their re-election attempts.