The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Friday a joint plea filed by Himachal Pradeshs six rebel Congress MLAs challenging their disqualification.   Their plea challenges the decision of State Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania, who disqualified them under the Tenth Schedule for defying a party whip to be present in the House and vote in favour of the Himachal Pradesh Government during the cut motion and budget on February 28.   The development a day after these six Congress rebels and three independent MLAs allegedly cross-voted against Congress candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi in the Rajya Sabha elections, resulting in his defeat and the victory of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Harsh Mahajan.   As per the cause list issued by the Apex Court, a Bench led by Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta will preside over the case.   The six Congress legislators facing disqualification are Sudhir Sharma, Rajinder Rana, Ravi Thakur, Chaitanya Sharma, Davinder K Bhutto, and Inder Dutt Lakhanpal. Following their disqualification, the effective strength of the House has gone down to 62 from 68, while the number of Congress legislators has decreased to 34 from 40.   In early March, these MLAs petitioned the Supreme Court, contesting the decision of the State Assembly Speaker to disqualify them from their legislative positions. Their disqualification stemmed from allegations of cross-voting during the Rajya Sabha polls and their failure to adhere to the party whip during the budget voting session in the assembly, noted Speaker Pathania.   In his ruling, Pathania cited the anti-defection law, declaring the actions of the six MLAs as grounds for their disqualification, consequently stripping them of their membership in the House. However, the disqualified MLAs have argued in their defense that they were not given the mandated seven days to respond to the notice issued against them.   After Bypoll Announcement, Rebel Cong MLAs Planning To Withdraw Plea After the announcement of schedule for by-polls on six state assembly seats, coinciding with the impending Lok Sabha elections slated for June 1, the rebel Congress legislators are planning to retract their plea lodged before the Supreme Court, seeking reinstatement of their assembly memberships.   Sources privy to the matter indicate that the rebel faction, recognizing the strategic opportunity presented by the concurrent polls, has opted to forego the pursuit of a judicial remedy.   The BJPs purported eagerness to synchronize the assembly by-polls with the parliamentary elections, ostensibly to leverage the charismatic appeal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has spurred the rebel Congress camp into action. By aligning themselves with the BJPs electoral machinery, these erstwhile dissenters envisage a pathway to political rehabilitation, with aspirations of securing renomination to the state assembly under the saffron banner.

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