Himachal Pradesh CM Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has asserted that his government will complete 5 years.
Shimla: Amid the high-level political drama surrounding the resignation of the Himachal Pradesh CM Chief Minister, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has cleared the air and asserted that they will run the government for five years.
“Neither the high command has asked me nor anyone else for resignation and there is no such thing,” Sukhu told PTI Videos while replying to a question. He said, “The kind of work done by the state BJP leaders. They did not trust their own people. The CRPF was deployed. Haryana police were deployed. A helicopter was used.”
In a stunning upset for the ruling Congress in Himachal Pradesh, the BJP on Tuesday won the state’s lone Rajya Sabha seat with its candidate Harsh Mahajan, defeating Congress stalwart Abhishek Manu Singhvi and apparently setting the stage for a no-trust motion in the assembly.
“But I want to say one thing: the people of Himachal Pradesh are with us and MLAs are with us and I can definitely say that we will run the Himachal government for five years,” said Sukhu.
Asked whether it was “Operation Lotus” or “own people” that led to the current situation, the chief minister said, “Some mistakes may have been made and because of those mistakes, there may have been some deficiencies.” But he also said, “The kind of ‘tantar-mantar’ used in Operation Lotus had a bigger role in it.”
The voting on Tuesday was a tie, 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 on the basis of a draw of lots, officials said. In the 68-member Himachal Pradesh Assembly, the Congress has 40 MLAs, while the BJP has 25 legislators. Notably, the remaining three seats are held by independents.
6 ‘Rebel’ Himachal Congress MLAs Appear Before Speaker
The six Congress MLAs, who were issued show-cause notice for defying the whip for Rajya Sabha polls on Tuesday, appeared before the Speaker along with their lawyer and argued that they had not been provided all the relevant documents.
Senior advocate Satya Pal Jain, who represented the six Congress MLAs before the Speaker, argued that they were only given the notice and a copy of the petition filed on Tuesday evening, while other annexures were not supplied to them.
Jain said according to the rules, seven days’ time has to be given to the MLAs for filing the reply the copy of the petition is supplied to them. A petition has been filed against the Congress against the six party MLAs who cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha elections.
Jain said there are five or six conditions under the anti-defection law, including seven days’ time for reply, that have to be complied with. Even after supplying a copy of the petition, seven days’ time has to be given for filing the reply, he said. He asserted that the anti-defection law does not apply to voting in Rajya Sabha polls and added that the Supreme Court has repeatedly said it.
“We have urged the Speaker to give at least one week’s time as per the principle of natural justice for filing the reply,” Jain said.
(With inputs from agencies)
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