NEW DELHI, Feb 28:
As the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh faces threat, the party on Wednesday said it was weighing all options and would not hesitate in taking “tough decisions” to ensure that the people’s mandate given to it is respected.
Six Congress MLAs voted in favour of the BJP candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls in Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday, with sources claiming they are “disappointed” with the working style of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
Addressing reporters here, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said party president Mallikarjun Kharge has despatched three senior observers — Bhupesh Baghel, Bhupinder Singh Hooda and D K Shivakumar — to Shimla. AICC in-charge of state Rajeev Shukla is also in the hill state.
Ramesh said Congress president Kharge has asked observers and Shukla to speak with all MLAs, including those disgruntled, hear their point of view, and submit a comprehensive report to him soon. The future course of action will be decided after that, he said.
Party sources said the report is likely to be submitted to Kharge by Thursday evening.
At the presser at the AICC headquarters, Ramesh said the Congress chief’s priority is to ensure that the party got a decisive mandate which should be protected.
“The individuals are not important, 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,” Ramesh asserted.
The BJP was trying to come to power in Himachal Pradesh through the “backdoor”, he said, adding that the BJP did so in Goa, Madhya Pradesh and the latest attempt is in Himachal Pradesh.
He also said that accountability will be fixed for cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha poll in the state, which the Congress nominee Abhishek Singhvi lost.
“Our priority is to save Congress government. The people of Himachal rejected the prime minister (Narendra Modi), BJP president J P Nadda and Jairam Thakur and gave a clear mandate to the Congress…We will not allow the Modi government to bring down the Congress government,” he said.
All options are open and the mandate that the Congress got has to be respected, Ramesh said.
The Congress leader said the report that will be submitted to Kharge will have two parts — why did cross-voting happen and the other is what steps are needed to save people’s mandate in the state.
The BJP cannot take away the mandate of the people of Himachal Pradesh through its ‘Operation Lotus’ and the Congress will take all steps necessary to protect it, Ramesh said.
“The Congress will not hesitate in taking tough decisions as the party is our priority and we will not let people’s mandate be betrayed in Himachal Pradesh,” Ramesh told reporters.
The Congress rebels are seeking to install a person of their choice as the new chief minister of the state.
Earlier in the day, former chief minister Virbhadra Singh’s son Vikramaditya Singh resigned as a minister and said he was pained to take this step out of frustration and humiliation.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra alleged that the BJP wants to “crush” people’s mandate by misusing money power and central agencies.
In a post on X, she also alleged that the BJP wants to push the state towards a “political disaster”.
In a democracy, the general public has the right to choose the government of their choice, she said.
The people of Himachal used this right and formed the Congress government with a clear majority, she claimed.
“But BJP wants to crush this right of the people of Himachal by misusing the money power, power of agencies and power of the Centre. The way the BJP is using government security and machinery for this purpose is unprecedented in the history of the country. If a party with 25 MLAs is challenging the majority of 43 MLAs, then it clearly means that it is dependent on horse-trading of representatives,” she said in a post in Hindi on X.
Tagging her post on X, Ramesh alleged that when a terrible natural disaster struck Himachal Pradesh last year, the prime minister had left the people there to fend for themselves.
“Now he is shamelessly trying to destabilize the government elected by the people of the state. He feels that by doing this he is troubling the Congress. But this is actually an insult to the people of Himachal Pradesh, who have chosen the Congress Party to serve them,” Ramesh said.
“The people of the state are with us. The people of Himachal Pradesh will give a befitting reply to this insult in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections,” he said.
Sources said the Congress president is learnt to have spoken to former party chief Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi on the Himachal developments.
Shivakumar decried the BJP and called its tactics “worrisome” for democracy.
“…There is absolutely no need to indulge in any hearsay, as I am confident that Congress Party legislators will be loyal to the party and stay put with the mandate that has been accorded to them,” he said on X.
The crisis was triggered when in a stunning upset, the BJP won the state’s lone Rajya Sabha seat with its candidate Harsh Mahajan defeating Congress stalwart Singhvi.
The contest tied with both the Congress and the BJP candidates getting 34 votes, indicating that at least six Congress MLAs voted against the party. The result was then declared based on a draw of lots, officials said.
In the 68-member Himachal Pradesh Assembly, the Congress has 40 MLAs and the BJP 25. The remaining three seats are held by independents. (PTI)
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