Jolt for Himachal BJP as murder-accused Cong MLA acquitted

The acquittal of Congress MLA Ram Kumar in the Jyoti murder case has come as a jolt for BJP, which was hoping for his conviction and subsequent by-election to the Doon assembly constituency in Himachal Pradesh's Solan district.
BJP, which won 26 of the 68 assembly seats in the 2012 polls, managed to wrest the Sujanpur seat in the recent by-election, after the sitting Independent MLA Rajinder Singh Rana joined Congress to contest the Lok Sabha polls.
Congress now has 36 members in the assembly, besides enjoying support of four Independent members and the lone Himachal Lokhit Party MLA.
Doon MLA Kumar did not participate even in a single sitting as he remained underground for some time after his election in December 2012 and later surrendered before court.

He was given one day's parole by the court to enable him to take oath as member of the state assembly, but he did not attend any session during past 20 months. The assembly had granted him leave for absence during the monsoon session, which BJP had criticised.
Meanwhile, Congress leaders have hailed the acquittal of Kumar and said that BJP had declared him guilty even before the trial and wanted his membership of cancelled.
Haryana's Panchkula District and Sessions Judge Roopam Singh acquitted the MLA from Doon constituency and five others citing "discrepancies" in evidence produced by police.
Six others charged for various offences including cheating and forgery and also harbouring and helping Chaudhary when he was absconding after the 2012 incident have also been acquitted by the court.