New Delhi:

Post Congress fiasco, the grand old party formed a six-member coordination committee for better coordination between the government and the organization in Himachal Pradesh.

According to an official release, the committee include Himachal CM Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, state party president Pratibha Singh, Deputy CM Mukesh Agnihotri, Congress leader Kaul Singh Thakur, Dhaniram Shandil and Ram Lal Thakur.

“Congress President has approved the proposal to constitute a coordination committee as follows for better coordination between the government and the Organisation in Himachal Pradesh, with immediate effect,” the statement said.

Earlier on Saturday, a total of 11 MLAs from Himachal Pradesh arrived in BJP-ruled Uttarakhand amid the turmoil within the Congress party in the state, whose government is led by CM Sukhu.

A bus with Haryana’s number plate arrived in Rishikesh’s Taj Hotel and the 11 MLAs, including six rebel Congress MLAs and three independent MLAs, were seen entering the hotel under a heavy security cover.

Sukhu, while speaking to reporters on Friday in Palampur said, “Some MLAs are sad. They have been kept under CRPF security. Is this how democracy will remain strong? Horsetrading weakens the democracy.”

“I have just come to know through social media that they (rebel MLAs) were taken away from the hotel in Panchkula and a charter plane flew from Chandigarh airport. I don’t know where it will land. This is because their family members were putting pressure on them to return,” Sukhu said.

After they abstained from voting on the budget following their cross voting in last month’s Rajya Sabha polls against party candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, six Congress members were disqualified by Himachal assembly speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania.

Pathania had said that the six MLAs, who contested on Congress symbol, attracted provisions of anti-defection law against themselves.

Those who voted for the BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan in the Rajya Sabha polls include Congress MLAs Rajinder Rana, Sudhir Sharma, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Devinder Kumar Bhutoo, Ravi Thakur and Chetanya Sharma and three independent legislators- Hoshyar Singh, K L Thakur and Ashish Sharma.

The 11 MLAs landed at Jolly Grant Airport in Dehradun on Friday at around 2:40 PM, from where they left in a car towards the hotel in Rishikesh.

The development comes two days after chief minister Sukhu was in Delhi to meet the Congress top brass. According to information, the Chief Minister was in the national capital to meet the Congress High Command and give a report about the current political situation in the state.

Asked about the possible return of the rebel MLAs to the Congress party, Sukhu said on Thursday, “If one realises one’s fault then that person deserves another chance.”

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

Rishikesh:

Six Himachal Pradesh Congress MLAs who voted against party nominee Abhishek Manu Singhvi in the Rajya Sabha elections, along with three Independent lawmakers, have shifted to a hotel in BJP-ruled Uttarakhand amid an ongoing rebellion against Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.

Two BJP MLAs Vikram Thakur and Trilok Jamwal from Himachal Pradesh were accompanying the legislators, who arrived in Rishikesh from Haryana’s Panchkula by a chartered flight late on Friday and checked into Hotel Taj.

Congress MLAs Sudhir Sharma, Rajinder Rana, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Devinder Kumar Bhuttu, Ravindra Thakur and Chaitanya Sharma have since been disqualified for defying the party whip on the state budget.

They have approached the Supreme Court for relief in the matter.

Three Independent MLAs Hoshiar Singh, KL Thakur and Ashish Sharma were also with them when they arrived.

The Congress currently has 34 MLAs in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly while the BJP has 25. The three Independent MLAs had also sided with the BJP in the Rajya Sabha polls.

Security around the hotel has been tightened and no one is being allowed to enter the premises except those who have advance online bookings.

The hotel is located about 30 kilometres from Rishikesh along the Rishikesh-Badrinath Road.

The Congress has already stepped up efforts to set its house in order in Himachal Pradesh and is holding parleys with senior ministers of the state.

Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region BL Verma told reporters in Haridwar that the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh will soon fall.

“The Sukhu government in Himachal Pradesh is battling internal conflicts. It will not last long because of this infighting,” Verma said.

He claimed Rahul Gandhi’s actions have eradicated the Congress in Uttar Pradesh and will wipe it out from all over the country after the Lok Sabha elections.

Verma was in Haridwar to attend a ‘Sahakarita Sammelan’ organised at yoga guru Ramdev’s Patanjali Yogpeeth.

Replying to a question about the presence of the Himachal Pradesh MLAs in Uttarakhand, Verma said the case of their expulsion is in the Supreme Court and the BJP honours the courts.

He also described the Samajwadi Party as a family-oriented organisation that will not be able to open its account in the general elections.

Calling the ongoing farmers’ movement politically motivated, he claimed the budget for farmers was only Rs 21,900 crore in 2013-14. It has been increased by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to 1.25 lakh crore.

“But some political parties are trying to defame the government under the guise of farmers. They will never succeed,” he said.

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

New Delhi:

The Congress remains on alert in Himachal Pradesh – a state it almost lost after Tuesday’s Rajya Sabha election loss left its government on the brink of collapse – following reports that Vikramaditya Singh on Thursday night met six rebel MLAs whose cross-voting triggered this political storm.

Mr Singh – the son of six-time former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh – did not cross-vote but his emotional outburst on the day, in which he accused the Congress of disrespecting the memory of his father, was an added challenge for the party as it fought off rival Bharatiya Janata Party’s attacks.

Himachal’s Urban Development Minister is in Delhi for two days to meet the Union Road and Transport Ministry. Sources said he met the rebel MLAs – who this morning moved the Himachal Pradesh High Court against their disqualification – in Panchkula, which is in BJP-ruled Haryana.

Sources also said two other Himachal Pradesh Congress MLAs have also met the rebels.

Neither side has yet commented on the subject of these discussions.

Mr Singh’s mother, Pratibha Singh, the Congress’ state unit boss, told news agency ANI she has “no idea” of her son’s schedule. “He was here till last night. What he did after… I don’t know.”

Amid speculation the Singh family is biding time before it challenges the Congress’ chief ministerial pick, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, for control of the state government, Ms Singh also said she will meet the party’s behind-the-scenes boss – Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi – to “keep them informed”.

READ | “MLAs Are Upset, Natural…”: Himachal Congress Chief On Cross-Voting

“Definitely. They are our high command and we have to go and apprise them… that this is the situation now in Himachal Pradesh and (they can) tell us what to do,” she said.

Further comments by Ms Singh – including telling ANI “… it is true that the BJP’s (government) is working better than ours” – seem to suggest the Congress’ Himachal problems are not yet over.

The comments have been seen in the light of the general election due in a few months.

The hill state has been a bastion for the BJP since Prime Minister Narendra Modi led his party to power at the centre; there may be only four seats, but the BJP won all four in 2014 and 2019.

“From Day 1 I have been telling the Chief Minister that we can only face upcoming elections if he strengthens the organisation. This is a very tough situation for us… we can see a lot of difficulties on the ground (and) as per directions of PM Modi, BJP is going to do a lot of things,” she said.

#WATCH | When asked about speculations of Vikramaditya Singh’s meeting with the six disqualified Congress MLAs, Himachal Pradesh Congress president Pratibha Singh says, “I have no idea about this. He was here until last night. What did he decide further and where did he go, I… pic.twitter.com/gqwAIHcfZR

— ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2024

“We are on weak footing… I have urged him again and again. This is a difficult time, but still we have to contest elections and win,” Ms Singh, who also showed sympathy for the cross-voting MLAs, said.

On Wednesday, as the Congress dealt with the challenge of cross-voting MLAs, Vikramaditya Singh had announced his resignation. He accused the Chief Minister of “negligence” towards his lawmakers and broke down as he accused the party of not allotting land for a statue of his father.

READ | “Didn’t Get Land For Father’s Statue”: Himachal Congress Leader

“In the past year, I have not said a word on this government but it is my responsibility to speak out now…” he declared. Hours later he backtracked, but underlined his ambivalent stance as he did so.

That same day the Congress pulled off a last-gasp maneuver to save itself, expelling 15 BJP MLAs to bring down the effective strength of the House and pass the state budget.

READ | Congress Buys Time In Himachal? Budget Passed Amid Coup Fears

The Assembly session was then adjourned, buying the party at least till after the general election.

The BJP must also now contest the expulsion of its MLAs – including former Chief Minister Jairam Thakur – before it can mount another attack on its rival.

For its part, the Congress has declared itself ‘safe’ for now after its top troubleshooter, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, was rushed in.

READ | “All Is Well”: DK Shivakumar On Crisis In Congress’s Himachal Unit

He met both Vikramaditya Singh and Pratibha Singh in Shimla Thursday evening, after which he told reporters, “All is well. This government will stay for five years. All issues have been sorted out…”

The crisis exploded after the six rebels, and three independents who had professed their support, voted for the BJP’s candidate in this week’s Rajya Sabha election, and were then taken by the party.

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Shimla:

Virbhadra Singh, Congress’s tallest leader in Himachal Pradesh and a six-time Chief Minister, breathed his last on July 8, 2021. But the Congress fought the Assembly polls a year a later not in the name of any living leader, but in the name of its dead veteran. There were faultlines, of course. The state Congress was helmed by Virbhadra Singh’s wife Pratibha Singh and leading the party’s campaign committee was Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, a grassroots-level leader and a known critic of the late Chief Minister.

The Congress leadership, however, managed to project a united front and the party won 40 seats out of the 68 in the Assembly, ousting the incumbent BJP.

The bigger challenge, however, was waiting. Pratibha Singh was being seen as a frontrunner for the top post, but the Congress decided to bet on Mr Sukhu. Reluctantly, the mother-son duo of Pratibha Singh and Vikramaditya Singh swallowed defeat. Fourteen months on, as Mr Sukhu fights to save his government after dramatic developments during a Rajya Sabha election, the knives are out. The seeds of discontent sown a year back have borne fruit, with Vikramaditya Singh resigning as minister and accusing the government of Mr Sukhu of disrespecting his father despite the Congress winning the polls in his name.

The Royal Veteran

A scion of the erstwhile royal family of Bushahr, Virbhadra Singh was fondly called Raja Sahib. An alumnus of the prestigious Bishop Cotton School in Shimla and Delhi’s St Stephen’s College, he became a Lok Sabha MP for the first time in 1962. He would get elected to the Lower House of Parliament four more times. Following two stints as a central minister, he became Chief Minister for the first time in 1983. He would go on to occupy the post six times during his long political career. He lost the post in 2017 when the BJP won the state polls and Jairam Thakur took over as the Chief Minister.

Mr Singh’s last years on the political landscape overlapped with Mr Sukhu’s tenure as state Congress chief and there was no love lost between them. So much so that at one point, Mr Singh refused to share stage with Mr Sukhu. The leadership did manage a truce but the acrimony remained.

The Grassroots Leader

The political rise of Mr Sukhu was in stark contrast to that of Mr Singh. Coming from an ordinary family, he started out as an activist of the Congress’s students wing, NSUI. He went on to serve as a councillor in Shimla municipal corporation before being elected to the Assembly for the first time in 2003. A four-time MLA, he took over as state Congress chief in 2019, setting the stage for his rivalry with Virbhadra Singh.

Despite the towering stature of the six-time Chief Minister, Mr Sukhu minced no words in his criticism of the veteran. In fact, in 2019, he hit out at Mr Singh for “blackmailing” the Congress before every election. “Singh considers himself as Congress in Himachal Pradesh. The truth is that time has changed. Congress is strong at the booth level and Singh is not necessary for the Congress to win,” he said.

Congress’s Big Choice

In the aftermath of its 2022 victory, the Congress was faced with a tough choice for the Chief Minister post. It picked Mr Sukhu over Virbhadra Singh’s wife Pratibha or son Vikramaditya Singh. There were reasons for this decision. The BJP’s favourite line of attack on the Grand Old Party is dynasty. In Mr Sukhu, the Congress saw a model party worker who had risen from the grassroots and had administrative experience. Choosing him would blunt the BJP charge, the Congress must have thought. The Congress leader is also known to be close to Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Also, choosing Mr Sukhu helped the Congress put the corruption charges against Virbhadra Singh behind them and closed another line of attack from the BJP.

Another key factor was that the Vibhadra Singh camp did not perform very well in the 2022 polls, depriving them of the political muscle required to clinch the Chief Minister post. 

The Balancing Act

Before the announcement of Mr Sukhu as the high command’s Chief Minister choice, Pratibha Singh was being considered a frontrunner for the top post. When the Congress decided otherwise, it tried a balancing act to prevent a mutiny. The state Congress president post stayed with Pratibha Singh and her son Vikramditya was given a minister’s post. “We accept the decision taken by Congress high command,” she said after the big announcement. Mr Sukhu ruled out any discontent in the Congress ranks following his selection.

A Timely Strike

As the Congress struggled to recover from the Rajya Sabha election stunner pulled off by the BJP, the royals opened up another front. In a press conference this morning, Vikramaditya Singh accused the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government of disrespecting his father and ignoring the voices of MLAs in its 14-month rule. Vikramaditya Singh resigned as minister and said that ball is in the Congress high command’s court. This, after six Congress MLAs cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha election and the BJP claimed that the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government had lost the mandate to stay in power. 

Congress’ Jairam Ramesh has said that the leadership will not shy away from “difficult decisions”. “Individuals are not important, it’s the mandate that we have to respect. All options are open and the party is supreme. We will take whatever decision is required and soon,” he said.

Panchkula, Haryana:

Six Congress MLAs, who voted for the BJP candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls in Himachal Pradesh, today left Haryana for an undisclosed location.

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

The MLAs had reached Haryana from Shimla on Tuesday after casting their votes in the Rajya Sabha polls. They are learnt to be in touch with the BJP, amid signs of a crisis engulfing the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh.

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

Mr 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.

Mr 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, Mr Thakur had said, “Hum ghoomne aye hain…this is my private time, so I can go anywhere.” When asked about the Himachal chief minister’s claims that some MLAs were brought here after being “kidnapped”, the Lahaul and Spiti MLA said, “No”.

Replying to a question on a 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).” Mr Thakur, Mr 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.

In a stunning upset for the ruling Congress in Himachal Pradesh, the BJP on Tuesday won the state’s lone Rajya Sabha seat with its candidate Harsh Mahajan defeating Congress stalwart Abhishek Manu Singhvi and apparently setting the stage for a no-trust motion in the assembly.

The voting was a tie with both the Congress and the BJP candidates getting 34 votes, indicating that at least six Congress MLAs voted against the party. The result was then declared based on a draw of lots, officials said.

In the 68-member Himachal Pradesh Assembly, the Congress has 40 MLAs while the BJP has 25 legislators. The remaining three seats are held by independents.

Even before the result was formally declared, the buzz over the BJP bringing a motion of no confidence against the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s 14-month-old government intensified.
 

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