Shimla, February 27: Polling held for the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday, February 27, sent shockwaves within the ruling Congress party. According to reports, 8 to 9 Congress MLAs cross-voted, sparking speculations if the Congress government will fall in Himachal Pradesh. Leader of Opposition Jairam Thakur claimed the Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led government has lost majority.
For the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Himachal Pradesh, the Congress nominated Abhishek Manu Singhvi. Despite not having enough numbers to secure the seat, the BJP fielded Harsh Mahajan. Fearing cross-voting, the Congress assigned ministers Harshvardhan Chauhan, Jagat Singh Negi and Rohit Thakur besides chief parliamentary secretary Sanjay Awasthi the responsibility to keep a watch on its MLAs.
The Congress had also issued a whip for its legislators. However, reports said Congress MLAs Rajendra Rana, Sudhir Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Chaitanya Sharma, Indra Dutt Lakhanpal and Devendra Bhutto cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha polls. Independent legislators Ashish Sharma, KL Thakur and Hoshiar Singh also reportedly voted for BJP's Harsh Mahajan.
After the polling, CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said: "We had issued a whip to our legislators. If someone has not turned up despite the whip, we will look into this. The Congress condemns the way BJP has tried to threaten our MLAs."
Asked if the BJP will demand a floor test, Jairam Thakur said: "Budget will be presented tomorrow. We will discuss the Budget tomorrow and then we will see the situation there. But I can see that the Government has lost the majority."
Will Congress Government Fall?
The Himachal Pradesh legislative assembly has 68 members. The majority mark is 35. The Congress has 40 MLAs and BJP 25. The Congress also claims the support of three independent MLAs, scaling its number to 43. If at least nine legislators switch their side and withdraw support, then the Congress government will fall.
