Day After Rajya Sabha Stunner, Speaker Suspends 15 BJP MLAs; Congress Minister Resigns

Shimla: Politics has heated up in Himachal Pradesh after BJP managed to pull off a victory for its candidate in the lone Rajya Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh, despite numerical disadvantage, indicating that six Congress MLAs and three Independents voted in favour of its candidate.

Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Pathania on Wednesday suspended 15 BJP MLAs along with Leader of Opposition (LoP) Jai Ram Thakur purportedly due to shouting slogans and engaging in misconduct within his chamber, proving right the saffron party’s apprehensions about the same to avoid division of votes.

Earlier in the day, Thakur met Himachal Pradesh Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla to demand the division of votes in the Assembly to pass the state’s Budget amid buzz about a likely no-confidence motion against Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government.

After the meeting, Thakur told reporters that the ruling Congress has “has lost the mandate” to govern the state. “BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan won the Rajya Sabha election despite the Congress having massive majority in Vidhan Sabha… Right now, Congress government has no right to remain in power,” Thakur added.

The LoP further said that some Congress MLAs had received notices. “Cross-voting is not invalid in Rajya Sabha, as directed by the Election Commission,” he said.

“When we demanded a division of votes during the financial bill, our request was denied, and the House was adjourned twice. The conduct of the Marshals towards our MLAs was unacceptable. We have apprised the Governor about it,” he added.

He further said that they fear that the Speaker may suspend BJP MLAs, as well as some Congress MLAs who supported BJP in the Rajya Sabha elections.

Minister Vikramaditya Singh has also resigned from his position. “All I would like to say is that under the current circumstances, it is not correct for me to continue as a part of the government. But I will support the government to pass the Budget,” he said.

The 68-member House has 40 MLAs from Congress, 25 from BJP and three Independents. The voting in Rajya Sabha election resulted in a tie with BJP’s Harsh Mahajan and Congress’ Abhishek Singhvi securing 34 votes. Mahajan was then declared the winner based on a draw of lots as per the procedure.

Meanwhile, the Congress has rushed senior leaders Bhupender Hooda and DK Shivakumar to the hill state for damage control, reports added.