Shimla, Feb 28 (UNI) The Himachal Pradesh Assembly witnessed high drama on Wednesday when 15 MLAs of the BJP, including the leader of opposition Jai Ram Thakur, refused to budge from their seat despite being suspended by Speaker Kuldeep Pathania, who adjourned the House till noon.

The Marshal was called to remove the suspended MLAs from the House, but some members, including the leader of the opposition, complained of uneasiness. The doctors were called in and checked the heartbeat and pulse of the members in their respective seats.

With the session set to resume at noon, the non-suspended members also turned up. However, it was delayed until 1220 pm as orders were not restored in the assembly. Finally, the marshals removed the suspended members from the House.

The drama unfolded amidst the crisis faced by the ruling Congress, a day after six of its MLAs cross-voted in favour of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha election.

The saffron party, which has only 25 members in the Assembly, also secured the backing of three independent MLAs.

As a result, despite the Congress having 40 members in the 68-strong Assembly, its senior leader and renowned advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi was tied 34-all with the BJP nominee Harsh Mahajan in the vote count. The election was then decided through toss, which Mahajan won. UNI ML SSP