Adding to the troubles for Congress in Himachal Pradesh, state minister Vikramaditya Singh this morning resigned from the ministerial post after accusing Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu of ignoring MLAs and disrespecting his father and the senior Congress leader in the hill state, late Virbhadra Singh. left.
This comes amid dramatic developments in Himachal Pradesh in the last 24 hours, turning the election for a Rajya Sabha seat into a battle for the survival of the Congress government. The party, which has 40 MLAs in the 68-member assembly.
Addressing the media, Mr Singh said the development in the hill state is a cause for concern. “We need to go into the background and see what led to this situation. I would like to refresh your memory. The 2022 assembly elections were held under the collective leadership of then Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri, state Congress chief Pratibha Singh and And won. Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, head of the campaign committee and current Chief Minister. There is no doubt that the election was fought in the name of former Chief Minister Late Virbhadra Singh. There was no banner or poster which did not have his picture. The day before, a full-page newspaper advertisement accompanied his photograph with the message, ‘Remember me, vote in my name.’ This is a matter of record,” he said.
Incidentally, before the Congress leadership chose Mr Sukhu, the then state Congress chief and Mr Singh’s mother Pratibha was seen as a strong contender for the chief minister’s post.
“In the last one year, I have not said a single word on the functioning of the government. But now it is my responsibility to speak towards the people. The position is not important for me. The important thing is my relationship with the people of Himachal.” The state is a relationship of trust,” he said.
He said, “The way the government has worked, the negligence towards the MLAs, suppressing their voices has brought us to this point.”
Mr Singh targeted the Congress government over its functioning and fiscal mismanagement. “This matter was repeatedly raised with the party high command, but they did not respond the way they should have. I have always had a responsive attitude. We raised it on many forums, but since I am a disciplined member of the party, I know where to draw the line,” he said.
Mr Singh said that the youth of the state have supported the Congress. “But are we in a position to fulfill the promises made to the youth of the state? This is a question that needs to be considered,” he said.
Accusing the state government of disrespecting his father Virbhadra Singh, the Congress leader said, “I am saying with a heavy heart that they (the state government) should not be given a piece of land on Mall Road to install the statue of that person.” Found, in whose name we formed the government. This is the respect this government has shown to my late father,” he said, choking back tears.
The Congress government, which had a comfortable majority till yesterday, is facing a crisis after six of its MLAs cross-voted for the lone Rajya Sabha seat yesterday. The rebel MLAs were taken to Haryana yesterday and the opposition BJP today claimed that the ruling party has lost its mandate to remain in power.
After a tie in the Rajya Sabha elections, cross-voting paved the way for the victory of BJP’s Harsh Mahajan and then after the draw, the fate of senior Congress lawyer Abhishek Singhvi was decided. Congress has now sent senior leaders Bhupinder Singh Hooda and DK Shivkumar to Himachal for damage control.
