 "Clamour for CM Sukhu's resignation gains momentum post defeat in RS polls")
The Congress leadership on Wednesday reached out to its Himachal Pradesh legislators, assuring them that it could, if needed, take “tough decisions”, including replacing Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu.
On Tuesday, Congress’ Abhishek Manu Singhvi lost the Rajya Sabha election with six Congress legislators voting for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Harsh Mahajan.
The result has put a question mark on the longevity of the Sukhu government. The crisis deepened when the state’s Public Works Minister Vikramaditya Singh resigned from the council of ministers on Wednesday.
Sukhu, however, maintained the Congress high command had not asked him to resign. According to sources, at least half of the Congress’ 40 legislators conveyed their unhappiness with Sukhu for not heeding their concerns.
Vikramaditya’s resignation brought out in the open the differences between the family of the late Virbhadra Singh and Sukhu.
Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge sent former chief ministers Bhupesh Baghel and Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Karnataka Deputy CM D K Shivakumar to Shimla.
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The three, along with the party’s Himachal in-charge Rajeev Shukla, spoke with the party’s MLAs, including the disgruntled ones.
They will submit their report to Kharge by Thursday evening. Vikramaditya, the son of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh and Mandi Lok Sabha MP Pratibha Singh, held a press conference in Shimla to announce that he had submitted his resignation to the governor and chief minister. “There have been attempts to humiliate and undermine me from some quarters and, despite reservations, I supported the government,” he said.
They will submit their report to Kharge by Thursday evening. Vikramaditya, the son of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh and Mandi Lok Sabha MP Pratibha Singh, held a press conference in Shimla to announce that he had submitted his resignation to the governor and chief minister. “There have been attempts to humiliate and undermine me from some quarters and, despite reservations, I supported the government,” he said.
Vikramaditya said it was up to the Congress high command to resolve the crisis. He said the Congress won the Himachal Assembly polls in December 2022 on the back of Virbhadra Singh’s popularity. But after the victory, when the matter of installing his statue arose, the government failed to decide the location, he said. Congress state unit president Pratibha Singh said that party leaders and legislators were unhappy as their concerns were not being addressed.
Two of the six Congress legislators who cross-voted for BJP’s Mahajan - Rajender Rana and Sudhir Sharma – accused the Sukhu government of failing to fulfil promises, such as creating jobs.
In the state legislature, Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania suspended 15 BJP legislators and the remaining 10 staged a walkout before the House passed the Budget for 2024-25. The Assembly was adjourned sine-die a day ahead of schedule.
Nine legislators, including six Congress MLAs and three independents, who cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha polls held on Tuesday, were also not present in the House.
The Budget was passed with a voice vote without discussion on cut motions and the Speaker applied guillotine.
The Speaker also reserved his order on a Congress petition seeking the disqualification of the six-party MLAs.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said: "The individuals are not important and the party's interest is supreme. More than the party's interest, it is the mandate of the people that was given in December 2022.”
He said the BJP was trying to form the government in the state through the “backdoor”.
In a post on ‘X’, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra alleged the BJP wants to "crush" people's mandate by misusing money power, and central agencies.