The speaker of the Himachal Pradesh assembly, Kuldeep Singh Pathania, today expelled 15 BJP MLAs for allegedly sloganeering inside the chamber before the start of the Budget session of the assembly.
The suspension as the BJP MLAs’ demanded a floor test after the ruling Congress lost the lone Rajya Sabha seat in the hill state.
The expelled BJP MLAs are former CM Jairam Thakur, Vipin Singh Parmar, Randheer Sharma, Lokender Kumar, Vinod Kumar, Hans Raj, Janak Raj, Balbir Verma, Trilok Jamwal, Surender Shori, Deep Raj, Puran Thakur, Inder Singh Gandhi, Dileep Thakur, and Inder Singh Gandhi.
A defiant Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu rejected speculation that he would step down as Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister as disgruntled Congress legislators threatened a rebellion. “I want to make it clear that I haven’t resigned. The Congress government will complete five years. We are fighters and we will prove our majority,” Sukhu told reporters.
Former CM Jairam Thakur met with the Governor shortly before speaking to the media. He said: “BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan clinched victory in the Rajya Sabha elections. Presently, the Congress government lacks the moral authority to retain power.”
BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan won the only Rajya Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh yesterday after defeating Congress’s Abhishek Manu Singhvi due to cross-voting by six MLAs within the Congress rank.
The drama doesn’t end here. Vikramaditya Singh, on Wednesday, resigned from his post of minister of Shimla rural, indicating trouble within the Congress party, alleging that the party MLAs’ views “were ignored”.
After stepping down Singh spoke about the outcome of the Rajya Sabha polls and said that it was ‘a result of the system prevailing in the government since its formation last year,’ according to reports.
He also expressed disappointment over the party’s disrespect towards his late father, Virbhadra Singh, who was the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh six times.
Singh further said, “Due to whom (referring to his late father) this government was formed in the state – they could not find a small space for his statue on Mall Road. This is the respect this government has shown to my late father”.
Meanwhile, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra stepped in to tackle the crisis in Himachal Pradesh. She briefed Congress President Kharge on the state’s situation and engaged with various MLAs, including Singh. Gandhi continues to closely monitor developments, maintaining regular communication with Sukhvinder Sukhu and Rajiv Shukla.
Currently, Congress has 40 MLAs and the BJP has 25 in the 68-member assembly in Himachal Pradesh. The remaining three seats are held by independents.
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