'Can't say what will happen in future', says Himachal Congress chief on BJP switch buzz

Himachal Pradesh LoP Jairam Thakur said, "We went to meet the Governor in the morning today and I said that since Congress does not have the majority to pass the Budget in the Assembly, the Speaker will suspend BJP MLAs. Today, as soon we entered the Assembly, 15 BJP MLAs were suspended and were taken out of the Assembly by the marshals. This is highly condemnable..."

Thakur added, "This government has lost all moral right to stay in power. As far as I have been informed, CM Sukhu has also presented his resignation in the House. Maybe the high command has asked him; I am not sure..."

The Congress top brass has rushed former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and DK Shivakumar to Shimla to parley with members of the party, which is facing loss of support and risks losing power in the state.

Sources said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is learnt to have spoken to former party chief Rahul Gandhi as also general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on the Himachal developments.

Hours after six Congress MLAs voted in favour of the BJP candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls in Himachal Pradesh, Kharge swung into action to pacify the disgruntled lawmakers and sent Hooda and Shivakumar to the state. They are expected to reach Himachal Pradesh soon.

They have been asked to engage with the disgruntled MLAs, including six MLAs, who are learnt to be “disappointed” with the working style of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and are seeking his replacement.

(With PTI inputs)

Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania has suspended 15 BJP MLAs, including Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, and adjourned the House.

They were suspended for misbehaviour and shouting slogans in the House.

“We are apprehensive that Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania might suspend the BJP MLAs so that the Budget can be passed in the Vidhan Sabha,” Thakur told reporters earlier in the morning.

He said the Rajya Sabha election had made it clear that the Congress government was in minority and demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.

(With PTI inputs)

Six Congress MLAs, who voted for the BJP candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls in Himachal Pradesh, and had left Haryana on Wednesday for an undisclosed location, have returned to Shimla.

The returnees also included three independent MLAs, who too had landed in Panchkula on Tuesday after casting their votes in the Rajya Sabha election.

All nine of them have reached Shimla.

The legislators, including Rajinder Rana and Ravi Thakur, had spent Tuesday night in a hotel in Panchkula and left on Wednesday morning in a chopper from Tau Devi Lal Stadium in BJP-ruled Haryana’s Panchkula, sources had earlier said.

The MLAs reached Haryana from Shimla on Tuesday after casting their votes in the Rajya Sabha poll. They are learnt to be in touch with the BJP for a possible coup in the state government.

According to reports, the MLAs were “disappointed” with the working style of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and seeking his replacement.

Ravi Thakur had Tuesday dismissed Sukhu’s claims that some party legislators were “kidnapped” and said he “can go anywhere” while referring to his visit to Panchkula.

Sukhu in Shimla alleged that “five to six” Congress MLAs were “kidnapped” and whisked away by the CRPF and the Haryana Police.

Speaking to reporters outside the guest house in Panchkula on Tuesday evening, Thakur, the MLA from Lahaul and Spiti, had said, “Hum ghoomne aye hain...this is my private time, so I can go anywhere,” and denied Sukhu’s charge that he along with other lawmakers was kidnapped.

Replying to a question on the floor test in Himachal assembly, he said, “In the interest of Himachal Pradesh and Lahaul and Spiti, we supported Harsh Mahajan ji (BJP candidate) so that we can get more budget (from the Centre).” Thakur, Rana and four other Congress legislators were learnt to have reached the PWD Guest House in Panchkula. Later, they were reportedly taken to a hotel.

(With PTI inputs)