Targeting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs from Himachal Pradesh, as well as a leader from his own party, Pratibha Singh, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Friday asked if the four parliamentarians had in Delhi raised the issue of the devastation caused by the rains in the state. Responding to a question about a remark he made about ‘Bihari architects”, Sukhu told media persons that the BJP “should stop playing politics”.
He then took a swipe at the four “elected representatives” in Lok Sabha from the Congress-ruled state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J P Nadda, he said, had at least called him up and inquired about the situation in the state. He then pointedly questioned the role of the four MPs from the state, suggesting that they had failed to voice the concerns of the people. He did not name them but his remarks were an apparent reference to three BJP MPs from the state—Anurag Thakur (Hamirpur), Suresh Kashyap (Shimla) and Kishan Kapoor (Kangra). The fourth MP representing the hill state in the Lower House of Parliament is Congress leader Pratibha Singh.
Singh represents Mandi and is also the Congress state unit president. Notably, Singh was also eyeing the Chief Minister’s post and had last month aired her grievances with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge regarding “non-coordination” between the party and the state
government.