Hours after the BJP claimed that the ruling party has lost majority in Himachal Pradesh, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has alleged that five or six Congress MLAs were taken to Haryana accompanied by a convoy of the state’s police and the Central Reserve Police Force. Mr Sukhu’s claim comes amid reports of six Congress MLAs cross-voting for the BJP in the Rajya Sabha polls on Tuesday. 

BJP sources have hinted that the party will move a no-confidence motion against the Sukhu government on Thursday after there were indications that six Congress MLAs and three independents backing the party had voted for the BJP candidate in the Rajya Sabha election. The Congress, which has 40 MLAs in the 68-member Himachal Assembly, was expected to secure a comfortable win for its candidate, Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

Moving the Congress MLAs to Haryana, a BJP-ruled state, is believed to be part of the party’s preparation for the no-confidence vote. The BJP has 25 MLAs.

“Counting for the Rajya Sabha polls is taking place and the way the BJP leaders are threatening the counting officers is not good for democracy. They have stopped counting for a long time. I will request BJP leaders to remain patient and not put pressure on people,” Mr Sukhu said in Hindi.

“The way 5-6 MLAs have been taken by a convoy of the Haryana Police and the CRPF… The MLAs’ families are trying to get in touch with them and the legislators should contact them. There is no need to worry. There is a government and an opposition in a democracy but the kind of hooliganism (gundagardi) being done by the opposition will never be accepted by the people of Himachal,” he asserted. 

Rajya Sabha Tally

Sources said votes for Mr Singhvi of the Congress and the BJP’s candidate, Harsh Mahajan, were tied at 34 each. The BJP, however, pushed for the ballot of Congress MLA Sudarshan Babloo being cancelled on the grounds that the chief minister’s helicopter was sent to get him to Shimla from Hoshiarpur in Punjab. The party has alleged that this is a violation of the model code of conduct.

Bengaluru:

A case has been registered against D Kupendra Reddy, the Janata Dal (Secular) leader contesting the Rajya Sabha elections in Karnataka, and his aides at the Vidhana Soudha police station in Bengaluru, former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy said on Tuesday.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah too confirmed that an FIR has been registered for “threatening” the Congress MLAs in connection with the Rajya Sabha elections.

“The Congress leaders not only spoke about allurement and threat to MLAs time and again but also registered an FIR against Kupendra Reddy and his aides,” Mr Kumaraswamy told reporters here.

The JDS leader said the complainant MLA did not say that he was lured, but that some other MLAs were “approached”.

“Melukote MLA Darshan Puttannaiah of Karnataka Sarvodaya Paksha too had said that it’s true that his vote was sought but no one had lured him,” the JDS state chief claimed.

Mr Kumaraswamy also said the BJP and JDS had decided that the votes of 19 JDS MLAs and the additional BJP votes after its first preferential votes would go to Kupendra Reddy.

Mr Siddaramaiah slammed the Janata Dal (Secular) for allegedly trying to lure Congress legislators to get its candidate Kupendra Reddy elected.

“JDS needs 45 votes (for their candidate) to win. Do they have that many votes? Even though they don’t have enough votes, they still fielded the candidate and are luring our MLAs. Do they have a conscience?” the chief minister asked in a post on social media platform X.

“An FIR has been lodged regarding the threat to us. Our three candidates will win. There is no doubt about this,” Mr Siddaramaiah insisted, without elaborating who the FIR is against and where it has been registered.

Speaking to reporters at Vidhana Soudha here, the chief minister slammed the minor partner in the opposition alliance, saying, “When JDS does not have ‘atma’ (soul), how can it have ‘atma sakshi’ (conscience)? They call themselves Janata Dal (Secular) but whom did they join with?”

He was referring to the JDS forming an alliance with the BJP.

The chief minister did not rule out the possibility of gaining votes from the rival camp saying the good works of his government may draw votes from the other side.

On the JDS allegations that the Congress had approached its party MLAs, Mr Siddaramaiah said when the Congress has a sufficient number of MLAs, there is no need to lure legislators from the opposition.

Voting is underway for four Rajya Sabha seats in Karnataka. The ruling Congress has fielded former union minister and Congress treasurer Ajay Maken and sitting Rajya Sabha members GC Chandrashekhar and Syed Naseer Hussain.

The BJP has fielded Narayansa Bhandage and also JD(S) leader Kupendra Reddy as the NDA candidate.

The Congress has 133 MLAs, excluding the Speaker, while the BJP and JD(S) have 66 and 19 legislators respectively, in the 223-member House. Others account for four. A Congress MLA died on Sunday.

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