The Congress scrambled Wednesday to save its government in Himachal Pradesh, amid dramatic developments that included a resignation announcement by high-profile minister Vikramaditya Singh and the suspension of 15 BJP MLAs by the Speaker.
The crisis was triggered by Tuesday's cross-voting by six Congress MLAs in the Rajya Sabha election for the lone seat from Himachal Pradesh.
The party has now sought the disqualification of these MLAs from the assembly, and the matter was heard by Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania, who has reserved his order.
The Congress government in the state faces a crisis after six MLAs crossed sides and learned to be in touch with the BJP. The Congress has 40 MLAs, while the BJP has 25 in the 68-member state assembly. The remaining three seats are held by independents.
Referring to this, the Speaker said, "The Parliamentary Affairs Minister has filed a petition against the six MLAs of the Congress party because the anti-defection law attracts proceedings against them. When the petition came to me, then I, as a Speaker, had to function like a tribunal. The hearing regarding the same is underway."
"And the majority is still with the Congress Party, as even if the number is reduced to six, out of 40, 34 are left, and they (BJP) are 25. If the three independents are added, there are still 28," he added.
The MLAs had cross-voted for BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan during the Rajya Sabha elections on Tuesday, leading to the defeat of their party candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi. The Congress has accused the six MLAs of defying the earlier whip in the Rajya Sabha polls.
Speaking in the assembly, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan said a whip was issued to the party MLAs to be present in the House during voting Wednesday on the budget. But these MLAs defied it by staying away, he added.
The minister asked the Speaker to take note of it. The speaker said the matter is within his knowledge and he will take cognizance of it.
Senior advocate Satya Pal Jain, who represented the six MLAs before the Speaker on Wednesday, has asserted that a party whip does not apply in the case of Rajya Sabha polls.
Jain also argued that the MLAs were only given the notice and a copy of the Congress' petition, while other annexures were not supplied to them.
He said, according to the rules, seven days' time has to be given to the MLAs for filing the reply.
He said there are five or six conditions under the anti-defection law, including seven days' time for reply, that have to be complied with.
He asserted that the anti-defection law does not apply to voting in Rajya Sabha polls and added that the Supreme Court has repeatedly said it.
"We have urged the Speaker to give at least one week's time as per the principle of natural justice for filing the reply," Jain added.
'Will run government for five years'
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu asserted that they would run the government for five years. "Neither the high command has asked me nor anyone else for resignation and there is no such thing," Sukhu told PTI Videos while replying to a question.
The Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister also announced that state minister Vikramaditya Singh's resignation has not been accepted by the Congress party and talks are on to address his discontent.
"I have spoken with Vikramaditya Singh and he is my younger brother. There is no reason to accept his resignation. He has some grievances that will be solved. I have spoken to him briefly during the budget session now but the speaker had arrived by then," Sukhu said.
CM Sukhu said that the conspiracy by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to bring down the Congress government in the hill state has failed.
"The way they conspired to topple power in Himachal Pradesh with the CRPF, the Haryana Police, by sending helicopters, has failed. The way they lured some MLAs by buying them has led to some MLAs siding with them. We've brought a disqualification motion against them (Congress MLAs who voted for BJP candidate in Rajya Sabha polls) and a hearing for the same is underway," Sukhu said, speaking to reporters on Wednesday.
Assuring that the Congress government will complete its tenure of five years, Sukhu said, "In democracy, the truth wins. The truth has won. Our MLAs passed the budget today. We want to thank everyone. The conspiracy to topple our government has been foiled and our government will surely complete five years."
Speaking about the methods taken by the BJP, Sukhu said that he would like to thank all his MLAs who did not get attracted to the monetary benefits promised by the BJP.
"The paramilitary, CRPF was coming inside the Assembly. How is this possible in a democracy? This is our assembly. The methods they are using for political gain are deplorable. They were even trying to buy our MLAs over night by offering crores of money. I would like to thank all those MLAs who have shown the strength of unity," the Chief Minister said.
Rubbishing claims of the Leader of Opposition, Jairam Thakur, that the Chief Minister should resign, Sukhu said, "I have heard several rumours that Jairam Thakur is asking for my resignation. How can Jairam Thakur take the Congress party's decision?"
Speaking about one of the MLAs who had crossvoted in the Rajya Sabha elections on Tuesday, Sukhu said: "One of the MLAs (who voted for BJP candidate in the RS polls) has asked for forgiveness since he has betrayed the party...I don't want to take his name. He said that he has erred in his decision."
'Will prove majority'
Earlier in the day, the Speaker said that the suspended members who created a ruckus in the Assembly were sitting in the house against the rules and had entered forcefully into the Assembly.
The suspended BJP MLAs, who include the leader of the opposition, Jai Ram Thakur, initially refused to leave the House in an apparent bid to stall the assembly from passing the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government's budget through voice vote.
The BJP wanted voting on the budget, which they felt would reveal that the Congress has lost its majority in the state assembly.
But in the afternoon, the crisis was staved off for the time being as the House passed the Finance Bill by voice vote with no Bharatiya Janata Party member being present. The speaker then adjourned the session sine die.
The back-to-back developments brought to the fore the rift within the ruling party, while the BJP claimed the Congress had lost the moral standing to be in power after losing a majority in the Assembly.
Meanwhile, Sukhu refuted the reports of him resigning from the post, saying that he has not tendered his resignation and will prove his majority in the House.
"Neither anyone asked for my resignation nor have I presented my resignation to anyone. We will prove the majority. We will win, the people of Himachal will win... I am not someone who will get scared and I can say this with a guarantee that Congress is going to win when the budget is presented. The budget will be passed today. BJP is spreading rumours of my resignation. Congress is united. I am a warrior and will fight like that," Sukhu said.
Though the Congress enjoys an outright majority in the Assembly that should have won Singhvi the seat, the BJP forced an election by nominating former Congress leader Harsh Mahajan as its candidate.
In the voting on Tuesday, the BJP, which has just 25 MLAs, managed to secure 9 additional votes. The vote thus ended in a 34-34 tie, with three Independents and six Congress MLAs cross-voting for the BJP. Mahajan ended up winning after the result was decided with a draw of lots.
(With inputs from PTI and ANI)
