The Congress on Wednesday removed Himachal Pradesh MLA Sudhir Sharma, who was disqualified by the Assembly Speaker after he cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha polls, from the post of All India National Congress (AICC) Secretary.
A statement signed by Congress General Secretary K C Venugopal stated that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has removed Sharma from his position as AICC Secretary "with immediate effect."
Responding to the development Sharma, a former Himachal Pradesh minister, shared the statement on his social media platform X and wrote in Hindi "They have relieved me of the burden as if the entire burden was on my shoulders."
"Chinta miti, chaahat gayi, manva beparwah, jisko kuch nahin chahiye, vo hi shahanshah," he wrote that loosely translates to "Worries and desires are gone, the heart is carefree, the one who does not want anything is the emperor."
During the February 27, Rajya Sabha elections, Sharma was among the six Congress MLAs who cast their votes for the BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan. Congress candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi lost due to the cross-voting.
On February 29, the Himachal Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania disqualified all six Congress MLAs under the anti-defection law for defying their party whip.
The six Congress leaders - Sudhir Sharma, Rajinder Rana, Davinder K Bhutto, Ravi Thakur, Chaitanya Sharma, and Inder Dutt Lakhanpal have approached the Supreme Court, challenging the Speaker's decision.
Rajinder Rana strongly criticised the Himachal government for the disqualification stating that the Chief Minister of the state has a 'small heart' and a 'small mindset'.
"We will soon go to court because the Speaker has arbitrarily decided to disqualify these members under pressure. The law has not been given due consideration. The Chief Minister of the state has a small heart and a small mindset," he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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