'Can't say what will happen in future', says Himachal Congress chief on BJP switch buzz
BJP conspiracy to topple govt has failed: Sukhu
The BJP’s conspiracy to topple the Congress government in Himachal has failed, CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Wednesday.
“The way they conspired to topple the Himachal government — with CRPF, the Haryana Police, by sending helicopters — has failed,” he said.
“The paramilitary, CRPF, coming into the Assembly. How is this possible in a democracy? This is our Assembly. The methods the BJP is taking for political gains is deplorable. They were trying to buy our MLAs overnight by offering crores of rupees. I thank all those MLAs who showed the strength of unity,” Sukhu added.
“In a democracy, the truth wins. The truth has won. Our MLAs passed the Budget today. We want to thank everyone. The conspiracy to topple our government has been foiled and our government will surely complete five years,” Sukhu said.
Asked whether it was because of “Operation Lotus” or his “own people” that led to the crisis, Sukhu said, “Some mistakes may have been made, and because of those mistakes, there may have been some deficiencies.” But he quickly added that the “tantar-mantar (black magic) of Operation Lotus” played a bigger role.
Show-caused MLAs seek 7 days to reply, say all documents not supplied
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 the copy of the petition filed on Tuesday evening while the annexure was not supplied to them.
Jain said according to rules, seven days’ time has to be given to MLAs for filing the reply and the copy of the petition must be supplied to them. The petition has been filed against the Congress against the six party MLAs who cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha elections.
Jain 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.