Premonition, betrayal and tough fate: How Congress lost the Himachal plot

Abhishek Singhvi lost the election despite the absolute majority of the Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu government.

Shimla:

The election for a Rajya Sabha seat has disturbed the power equations in Himachal Pradesh. The Congress, which had a comfortable majority of 40 in the 68-member assembly, is now struggling to save its government. The party has sent senior leaders Bhupendra Hooda and DK Shivakumar to the hill state for damage control. The BJP, which has been quick to act in these circumstances, has already met Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla amid talks that it may move a no-confidence motion against the Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu government. Here’s how BJP did a shocking thing and turned the tables

How the numbers were stacked

In the 68-member House, Congress has 40 MLAs, BJP 25 and three independent MLAs. Congress chose senior lawyer Abhishek Singhvi as its candidate. Despite lagging behind in numbers, BJP forced a contest by fielding experienced politician Harsh Mahajan, who was earlier with the Congress.

premonition

Before voting, Chief Minister Sukhu said that Congress has 40 MLAs and ‘if no one sells out’ they will get all the votes. Ryder underlined Congress’ apprehension that the BJP has a plan. State Minister Harshvardhan Chauhan was more candid. He said, “BJP has only 25 MLAs. Even without the numbers, BJP is fielding its own candidate. It means they are planning horse-trading.” The Congress also issued a whip to its MLAs to prevent cross-voting, which the BJP described as “immoral”.

a surprising result

At the end of the count, both Mr Singhvi and Mr Mahajan were tied at 34 votes each – meaning six Congress MLAs and three independent MLAs voted in favor of the BJP candidate. After this, there was a tie-breaker through draw and despite all the obstacles, BJP’s Harsh Mahajan got the ticket to the Upper House.

reactions

Soon after his shocking defeat, Mr Singhvi said the election had “taught me a lesson on how people can change their principles and ideologies overnight”.

“The nine MLAs who cross-voted had dinner with us on Monday night. Three of them also had breakfast with us in the morning. But they voted against me,” he said.

“Normally, the name drawn in the draw is that of the winner, but under a strange rule of the Election Commission, about which I came to know only on Tuesday, the name of the candidate drawn, which was mine, was lost, ” the Congress leader said.

Winner Harsh Mazhahan said that victory is of BJP. “Cross voting was done because the MLAs were verbally unhappy with the government,” he told news agency ANI.

after

Within 24 hours, the fight for Rajya Sabha seat has become a fight for survival for the Sukhu government. BJP claims that the state government has lost the confidence of the House. Mr Sukhu said last night, six rebel MLAs were taken away by Haryana Police. The MLAs have reportedly been put up at a resort in Panchkula and have met Himachal BJP chief Rajeev Bindal.

Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur has said, “From the political point of view of the recent developments in Himachal Pradesh, it can be said that the state government has lost its moral right to remain in power.”

“We have informed the Governor about what happened in the Assembly recently. We have informed him about the Speaker’s behavior towards the opposition MLAs,” he said.

When asked how many Congress MLAs are in touch with the BJP, he said, “I cannot tell you this right now. I just want to say that the Congress has lost the mandate.”