Last Updated on February 28, 2024 at 5:11 pm
Stung by the defeat of its candidate for the lone Rajya Sabha seat, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, despite its clear majority in the Assembly, the Congress leadership is probing multiple options including Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu who is accused of having failed to keep his flock intact.
The Congress has 40 MLAs with support of also 3 independents, but the BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan of Chamba won the Rajya Sabha seat although the party has only 25 MLAs.
The Congress government in Himachal is on the verge of collapse as six of its 40 MLAs have voted for the BJP and 10 others are said to be unhappy with the working style of Sukhu.
The Rajya Sabha seat polling yesterday has exposed the discontent among the Congress party. Sukhu was saddled as CM by Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi ignoring the choice of the legislators.
Singhvi lost the election to BJP’s Harsh Mahajan, for whom six Congress MLAs and 3 Independents cross-voted. Harsh Mahajan was once the political advisor to former Himachal Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. Virbhadra Singh’s wife Pratibha Singh is the Congress chief of Himachal Pradesh.
In an interesting twist to political events, Vikramaditya Singh, son of Virbhadra Singh, this morning resigned as minister, alleging that the Sukhvinder Sukhu-led government had “humiliated” him and its own legislators.
At present, the Congress has 40 MLAs, while the BJP has 25, and three are independents in the 68-member Himachal Pradesh assembly.
Members of the BJP Legislative Party led by Jai Ram Thakur met Himachal Pradesh Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla. The meeting came amid a buzz over the BJP bringing a motion of no-confidence in the assembly against the Congress government.
Meanwhile, Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania has suspended 15 BJP MLAs, including Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, and adjourned the House. They were suspended on the charges of misbehaviour and shouting slogans in the House.
Thakur said the Rajya Sabha election had made it clear that the Congress government was in minority and demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
