CHANDIGARH: In a fresh development after the RS polls on Wednesday, Himachal Pradesh assembly Speaker expelled 15 BJP MLAs including leader of the opposition Jai Ram Thakur.
PWD Minister Vikramaditya Singh, son of late chief minister Virbhadra Singh, resigned from the state cabinet citing that "the Congress MLAs were humiliated several times."
The expelled MLAs are Vipin Parmar, Randhir Sharma, Hans Raj, Vinod Kumar, Janak Raj, Balbir Verma, Lokinder Kumar, Trilok Jamwal, Surinder Shourie, Puran Chand, Dalip Thakur, Inder Singh Gandhi, Ranbir Nikka and Deep Raj.
The speaker ordered the marshals to forcefully remove the legislators out of the house as the opposition MLAs stood around the speaker’s podium and continued raising slogans.
Singh said, "Thus there is a need to look into the reasons why the Congress government is on the brink of collapse and how such a situation arose when the party had complete majority."
"Humiliation won’t be tolerated, now the party high command has to decide where Congress is headed next in Himachal. The man who lived for Himachal, Virbhadra Singh was humiliated. Is this how much they respect my father?’’
"With a heavy heart, I have to admit that Virbhadra Singh who remained six-time CM was denied space for his statue,’’ he said while breaking down.
Singh said it does not matter to him whether the government stays or goes. "I am emotionally very hurt and the high command should have taken note of this. Some things need to be looked at emotionally and not politically,” he added.
He said he and his family had always stood by the party and in future also he would not take any such step which would hurt the people of Himachal.
According to Singh, party MLAs had been sidelined and there was fiscal mismanagement and all these issues were raised from time to time with the high command in Delhi.
"This situation has arisen as the high command had failed to take note of it and implement corrective action. I am a disciplined member of the party, so I know where to draw the line. I had given due respect to the CM and in the last one year as minister he had tried to deliver to the best of his ability,’’ he said.
He said he is compelled to speak on the functioning of the government as no post was important to him, but it was the relationship with the people that mattered most to him.
"The government was formed with everyone’s efforts, as we fought the 2022 elections under the collective leadership of Congress president Prtaibha Singh and Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri. Justice should not only be done but should seem to be done through delivery and proper governance," he added.
His resignation comes at a time when the Congress is already facing trouble in the state.
Six Congress MLA's, who cross-voted for BJP leave Panchkula for Shimla
Amid political turmoil, six Congress MLAs, who voted for the BJP candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls in Himachal Pradesh, on Wednesday reached Shimla from Panchkula.
The legislators, including Rajinder Rana and Ravi Thakur, spent last night in a hotel here and left for Tau Devi Lal Stadium in BJP-ruled Haryana's Panchkula in the morning, said sources.
The MLAs had reached Haryana from Shimla on Tuesday after casting their votes in the Rajya Sabha polls.
They are learnt to be in touch with the BJP, amid signs of a crisis engulfing the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh.
Reacting to the developments in Himachal Pradesh, former Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu hit out at "masqueraders" who are "dancing to the tune" of central agencies.
Sidhu wrote on X,"The Himachal fiasco calls for an assessment of assets and liabilities for The Grand Old Party ??? …. “Masqueraders” on plum posts covertly dancing to the tunes of agencies like CBI, ED and IT have spelt dooms day for us many a times! The loss is not @DrAMSinghvi Sahb’s but larger….. It is essential to purge the party of those who prioritize personal gain over the collective good, for their actions inflict profound wounds on the party’s very existence….. the wounds might heal but the mental scars will remain…… Their gain is the congress worker’s biggest pain…. Loyalty is not everything but the only thing !!!’’
