Shimla:

A matter of refreshments getting served to the staff of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu instead of the chief minister by mistake has assumed disproportionate dimensions following a CID probe that termed the goof up an “anti-government” act.

Due to a lack of coordination, three boxes of samosas and cakes were brought from Hotel Radisson Blue in Lakkar Bazaar to be served to the chief minister who had gone to the CID headquarters for a function on October 21. However, the eatables were served to the CM security staff, according to the enquiry report conducted by a deputy SP rank officer.

The report stated that an officer of IG rank had asked a sub-inspector (SI) of police to get some eatables from the hotel for the CM’s visit. The SI in turn directed an assistant SI (ASI) and a head constable to bring the refreshments.

The ASI and the head constable fetched the refreshments from the hotel in three sealed boxes and informed the SI.

The police officers in their statement said when they asked the tourism department staff on duty whether the snacks in the three boxes were to be served to the chief minister, they said they were not included in the menu.

The enquiry report said only the said SI, who deputed the ASI and the head constable with the task of getting the snacks from the hotel, was aware of the fact that the three boxes were for Sukhu.

The lady inspector, to whom the food items were handed over, did not ask any senior officer and sent the refreshments to the mechanical transport (MT) section which deals with refreshments.

Interestingly, a highly placed official in the CID department wrote in his note that all persons named in the enquiry report have acted in an anti-CID and anti-government manner due to which the items could not be served to the VVIPs.

They acted according to their agenda, the note added. PT

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Amid the political crisis in Himachal Pradesh, especially over Congress MLA Vikramaditya Singh’s resignation, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said he had a discussion with the rebel Congress leader during the cabinet meeting on Thursday following which Vikramaditya Singh went to Chandigarh.

“Vikramaditya Singh was in the cabinet meeting yesterday. I had a discussion with him. After the cabinet meeting, he went to Chandigarh and met other legislators at Lalit Hotel there. He has tried to influence the minds of other (rebel) MLAs. Some of them want to come back to the Congress,” the Chief Minister told ANI on Friday.

Mr Sukhu also shared that he had a word with Vikramaditya Singh, a former royal and also the son of six-time chief minister Late Virbhadra Singh.

“I had a word with him (Vikramaditya Singh) in the morning at 7 am, then again at noon. I have told him to speak with the high command as well,” the Chief Minister said.

Mr Sukhu said that while one of the rebel MLAs had telephoned him and shared his interest to come back to the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which is taking all steps to topple the Congress government in the hill state, has allegedy stationed more CRPF troops at Panchkula’s Lalit Hotel where the six rebel Congress MLAs are currently staying.

“One of the MLAs rang me up and told me that he wants to come back to the Congress. But he can only come back when he is within Himchal’s boundary. He is at Panchkula’s Lalit Hotel. I have just heard that more CRPF personnel have been stationed there,” the Chief Minister said.

Mr Sukhu said that he will welcome the rebel Congress MLA who wants to come back to the Congress’ fold but they will not take any coercive measures.

“When he has made up his mind, he may come and we will welcome him. It is not in Himachal’s culture to force someone. Hooliganism is not in Himachal’s culture,” he said.

The six MLAs who have been disqualified after they crossvoted in the Rajya Sabha polls are Sudhir Sharma, Rajinder Rana, Davinder K Bhutto, Ravi Thakur, Chaitanya Sharma and Inder Dutt Lakhanpal.

The crossvoting led to a surprise win by BJP’s candidate Harsh Mahajan in the Rajya Sabha from Himachal Pradesh.

Meanwhile, Vikramaditya Singh who on Wednesday took back his resignation as a minister in the state continues to keep the Congress top brass guessing.

After the 2022 Assembly elections, the Congress had 40 MLAs, while the BJP had 25 in the 68-member state assembly. The remaining three seats are held by independents.

With the six rebel MLAs disqualified the strength of the house comes down from 68 to 62 and the halfway mark is 32. With the loss of 6 MLAs the Congress now has 34 MLAs and the BJP with independents has 28. The fortunes of the Congress will now rest on its ability to keep the rest of its flock together.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)