The Congress party on Thursday managed to avert the crisis in Himachal. Party observer D K Shivakumar said the Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu government will stay and all the MLAs want the Congress government for five years, adding that a six-member coordination committee is being setup between the party and the state government so that no political crisis is created in future.
Shivakumar at a press meet said that all the leaders have taken oath to work for the party.
“I am very sorry that our senior leader lost in the Rajya Sabha elections. Our CM has accepted that some failures have happened. We have spoken with all the MLAs, CM and PCC chief personally. All the differences have been sorted out. They will work together. We are forming a co-ordination committee between the party and the government of five to six members. PCC president, CM and Deputy CM will be part of it. All of them have taken an oath that at any point in time, they will all work together to save the party,” he said.
Bhupinder Singh Hooda, observer appointed for Himachal Pradesh, said that the other three members of the co-ordination committee will be announced soon from Delhi.
“The party regrets that our senior leader lost in the Rajya Sabha elections. Everyone knows the reasons behind it and it has also been discussed. We have talked to everyone and whatever differences there have been resolved. It has been decided that everyone will contest the Lok Sabha elections together and send the party to victory from here. A co-ordination committee will be formed with six members which will include PCC President, CM, Deputy CM and others who will be announced from Delhi,” Hooda said.
State Congress President Pratibha Singh pointed out that she had said that there should be talks between the government and the party, for which it has just been announced that a coordination committee will be formed.
Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu pointed out that after the Rajya Sabha elections, it seemed as if our government was going to fall. The game played by BJP was never seen before in the history of Himachal Pradesh.
“A few days ago, a piece of news ran that the CM had resigned. I condemn this. This move was made so that our voting during the budget session gets reduced. We expelled only 15 MLAs because they misbehaved with the Marshal. I definitely say that our government will last for five years. If an MLA gets elected and then sells himself, the people of that area will decide on him in the future,” he said.
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 has come down from 68 to 62 and the halfway mark is 32 now. With the loss of six 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.
The political crisis in the state was triggered by the Congress losing the Rajya Sabha election on Tuesday despite having a clear majority in the assembly.
