New Delhi, March 23 : Six former Congress MLAs of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly, who were disqualified for defying a party whip, joined the BJP on Saturday in the national Capital.

Three Independent legislators, who resigned from the House of 68 a day earlier, may also join the saffron party soon.

Already, the Election Commission has announced bypolls in six constituencies vacated by the Congress rebels.

The six disqualified Congress legislators had supported the BJP in the Rajya Sabha election, apart from the three Independent legislators.

The BJP inducted leaders were Rajinder Rana, who represented the Sujanpur constituency; Sudhir Sharma (Dharamshala); Inder Dutt Lakhanpal (Barsar); Devinder Kumar Bhutto (Kutlehar); Ravi Thakur (Lahaul-Spiti) and Chetanya Sharma (Gagret).

They joined the BJP in the presence of Union Minister, Anurag Thakur, former Himachal Chief Minister, Jai Ram Thakur, and the party’s state President Rajeev Bindal.

Welcoming them into the party, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said their presence would strengthen the BJP.

“These leaders supported the BJP in the recent Rajya Sabha elections, reflecting public anger against the Congress,” he said.

Bye-elections to six Assembly seats will be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls on June 1.